Gennady Petrovich Aksenov,
Candidate of Geographical Sciences, S.I. Vavilov Institute of the History of Natural Science and Technology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
“Brotherhood” of V.I. Vernadsky in the Zemstvo Movement
DOI: 10.31518/2618-9100-2025-1-13
Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky (1863−1945) was not only a universal scientist of world renown, but also an outstanding public, political and statesman of Russia. After graduating from St. Petersburg University, he and his student friends created a unique association, the Brotherhood, which set the goal of a collective search for the meaning of life, moral improvement, enlightenment and peaceful public activity. In 1891−1892, the Brotherhood saved peasants from the famine that broke out in the Tambov province. The canteens they created successfully operated in the village for seven months. After the famine ended, Vernadsky ran for the Morshansk district and Tambov provincial zemstvo assemblies. He and his friends planted zemstvo schools, setting the goal of universal compulsory primary education in the country. On the all‑Russian stage, Vernadsky and members of the Brotherhood successively entered the leadership of the Union of Zemstvo Constitutionalists and the Union of Liberation. They participated in the work of the famous 2nd Zemstvo Congress on November 6−9, 1904, the resolution of which laid the foundation for the transformation of the country from an absolute to a constitutional monarchy. Nicholas II was forced to proclaim the civil and political rights from the draft constitution of the country they had developed in the Manifesto of October 17, 1905, they were included in the Fundamental State Laws of 1906. Vernadsky’s friends formed the backbone of the Central Committee of the Cadet Party and headed the First State Duma. He himself was elected a member of the State Council, and in 1917 he joined the Provisional Government. The experience of Vernadsky and his close friends as zemstvo, public and government figures is of lasting importance and deserves the most serious study. It allows us to overcome the Marxist principle of historiography and shows which forces of the 1904−1906 revolution were historically constructive, peacefully transforming the state system of Russia.
Publishing: 24/02/2025
The article has been received by the editor on 26/10/2024
How to cite: Aksenov G.P. “Brotherhood” of V.I. Vernadsky in the Zemstvo Movement // Historical Courier, 2025, No. 1 (39), pp. 187–199. [Available online: http://istkurier.ru/data/2025/ISTKURIER-2025-1-13.pdf]
Links: Issue 1 2025
Keywords: zemstvo self-government; primary schools; constitutional movement; II All-Russian Zemstvo Congress; anti-feudal revolution of 1904−1906; Constitutional Democratic Party; State Duma