Blackwell Reference Online

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Vsévolod Mikhailovitch Eichenbaum, better known by the pseudonym “Voline” (derived from the Russian word vol'nost , “freedom”), was born in Vorenezh, Russia. The child of doctors, he studied jurisprudence at St. Petersburg University. At the age of 19 he came into contact with revolutionary ideas, and after leaving university in 1904, he joined the Russian Socialist-Revolutionary Party. Engaged in the labor movement, he met radical priest George Gapon (1870–1906) and took part in the march on the Winter Palace on Bloody Sunday in January 1905. Although his group was turned back before reaching the palace, during the strikes following the massacre he was instrumental in creating the first St. Petersburg Soviet, which, although it ceased to exist in December 1905, was recreated following the February Revolution of 1917. Arrested and sentenced to internal exile in 1907 for his part in the insurrection, Voline fled to France. In France, Voline came into contact with anarchists from Russia, such as Appollon Karelin (1863–1926), as well as French anarchists like Sébastien Faure (1858–1942), and by 1911, Voline had joined the movement. In 1913, with war looming, he joined the Committee for International Action against War, and was confined to a prison camp for the duration of the conflict by the French government. Escaping to New York, he entered the syndicalist Union of Russian Workers ... log in or subscribe to read full text