The expression “son of Lieutenant Schmidt” is firmly entrenched in the Russian language as a synonym for a swindler and swindler thanks to the novel Ilfa And Petrova"Golden calf".
But today much less is known about the man whose sons were posed as cunning swindlers at the time the novel was written.
Hailed as a hero of the first Russian revolution, decades later Pyotr Petrovich Schmidt ended up somewhere on the periphery of the attention of historians, not to mention ordinary people.
Those who remember Schmidt differ radically in their assessments - for some he is an idealist who dreamed of creating a just society in Russia, for others he is a mentally unhealthy subject, pathologically deceitful, greedy for money, hiding selfish aspirations behind lofty speeches.
As a rule, Schmidt's assessment depends on people's attitude to the revolutionary events in Russia as a whole. Those who consider the revolution a tragedy tend to have a negative attitude towards the lieutenant; those who believe the collapse of the monarchy is inevitable treat Schmidt as a hero.
Marriage for the purpose of re-education
Pyotr Petrovich Schmidt was born on February 5 (17), 1867 in Odessa. Almost all the men of the Schmidt family devoted themselves to serving in the navy. Father and full namesake of the future revolutionary Pyotr Petrovich Schmidt rose to the rank of rear admiral, was the mayor of Berdyansk and the Berdyansk port. Uncle, Vladimir Petrovich Shmidt, held the rank of full admiral, was a holder of all Russian orders, and was the senior flagship of the Baltic Fleet.
Peter Schmidt graduated from the St. Petersburg Naval School in 1886, was promoted to midshipman and assigned to the Baltic Fleet.
Among his colleagues, Peter Schmidt stood out for his eccentric thinking, diverse interests, and love of music and poetry. The young sailor was an idealist - he was disgusted by the harsh morals that reigned in the royal fleet at that time. The beatings of lower ranks and “stick” discipline seemed monstrous to Peter Schmidt. He himself quickly gained fame as a liberal in his relations with his subordinates.
But it’s not just the peculiarities of the service; the foundations of Tsarist Russia as a whole seemed wrong and unfair to Schmidt. A naval officer was required to choose his life partner extremely carefully. And Schmidt fell in love literally on the street, with a young girl whose name was Dominika Pavlova. The problem was that the sailor's beloved turned out to be... a prostitute.
This didn't stop Schmidt. Perhaps his passion affected Dostoevsky, but he decided that he would marry Dominica and re-educate her.
They got married immediately after Peter graduated from college. This bold step deprived Schmidt of hopes for a great career, but this did not frighten him. In 1889, the couple had a son, who was named Evgeniy.
Schmidt failed to achieve correction for his beloved, although their marriage lasted more than a decade and a half. After the divorce, the son stayed with his father.
Merchant Navy Captain
Peter Schmidt's father could not accept and understand his son's marriage, and soon died. Peter retired from service due to illness with the rank of lieutenant, went with his family on a trip to Europe, where he became interested in aeronautics, tried to earn money through demonstration flights, but in one of them he was injured upon landing and was forced to give up this hobby.
In 1892, he was reinstated in the navy, but his character and views led to constant conflicts with his conservative colleagues.
In 1889, when leaving service, Schmidt cited a “nervous illness.” Subsequently, with each new conflict, his opponents will hint at the officer’s mental problems.
In 1898, Peter Schmidt was again dismissed from the navy, but received the right to serve in the commercial fleet.
The period from 1898 to 1904 in his life was perhaps the happiest. Service on the ships of the Russian Society of Shipping and Trade (ROSiT) was difficult, but well paid, employers were satisfied with Schmidt’s professional skills, and there was no trace of the “stick” discipline that disgusted him.
However, in 1904, Peter Schmidt was again called up to serve as a naval reserve officer in connection with the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War.
Love in 40 minutes
The lieutenant was appointed senior officer on the coal transport Irtysh, assigned to the 2nd Pacific Squadron, which in December 1904 set out to catch up with the squadron with a load of coal and uniforms.
A tragic fate awaited the 2nd Pacific Squadron - it was defeated in the Battle of Tsushima. But Lieutenant Schmidt himself did not participate in Tsushima. In January 1905, in Port Said, he was discharged from the ship due to worsening kidney disease. Schmidt's kidney problems began just after an injury received during his passion for aeronautics.
The lieutenant returns to his homeland, where the first volleys of the first Russian revolution are already thundering. Schmidt was transferred to the Black Sea Fleet and appointed commander of destroyer No. 253, based in Izmail.
In July 1904, the lieutenant, without receiving permission from the command, went to Kerch to help his sister, who had serious family problems. Schmidt was traveling by train, stopping in Kyiv while passing through. There, at the Kiev hippodrome, Peter met Zinaida Ivanovna Risberg. She soon turned out to be his companion on the Kyiv-Kerch train. We drove together for 40 minutes, talked for 40 minutes. And Schmidt, an idealist and romantic, fell in love. They had a romance in letters - this is what the hero remembers Vyacheslav Tikhonov in the film "We'll Live Until Monday."
This romance took place against the backdrop of increasingly heated events that reached the main base of the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol.
Oath over the grave
Peter Schmidt did not participate in any revolutionary committees, but enthusiastically greeted the Tsar’s manifesto of October 17, 1905, guaranteeing “the unshakable foundations of civil freedom on the basis of actual inviolability of the individual, freedom of conscience, speech, assembly and unions.”
The officer is delighted - his dreams of a new, fairer structure of Russian society are beginning to come true. He finds himself in Sevastopol and participates in a rally at which he calls for the release of political prisoners languishing in a local prison.
The crowd goes to the prison and comes under fire from government troops. 8 people were killed, more than fifty were wounded.
For Schmidt this comes as a deep shock. On the day of the funeral of the murdered, which resulted in a demonstration with the participation of 40 thousand people, Peter Schmidt makes a speech at the grave, which in just a couple of days makes him famous throughout Russia: “It is proper to say only prayers at the grave. But may the words of love and the holy oath that I want to pronounce here with you be like a prayer. The souls of the departed look at us and silently ask: “What will you do with this benefit, which we are deprived of forever? How will you use your freedom? Can you promise us that we are the last victims of tyranny? And we must calm the troubled souls of the departed, we must swear to them this. We swear to them that we will never give up a single inch of the human rights we have won. I swear! We swear to them that we will devote all our work, all our soul, our very life to preserving our freedom. I swear! We swear to them that we will devote all of our social work to the benefit of the poor working people. We swear to them that between us there will be neither a Jew, nor an Armenian, nor a Pole, nor a Tatar, but that from now on we will all be equal and free brothers of the great free Russia. We swear to them that we will carry their cause to the end and achieve universal suffrage. I swear!”
Leader of the rebellion
For this speech, Schmidt was immediately arrested. The authorities were not going to bring him to trial; they intended to resign the officer for his seditious speeches.
But at that moment an uprising had already actually begun in the city. The authorities tried their best to suppress discontent.
On the night of November 12, the first Sevastopol Council of Sailors, Soldiers and Workers' Deputies was elected. The next morning a general strike began. On the evening of November 13, a deputy commission, consisting of sailors and soldiers delegated from various branches of arms, including seven ships, came to Schmidt, who was released and awaiting resignation, with a request to lead the uprising.
Peter Schmidt was not ready for this role, however, having arrived on the cruiser "Ochakov", whose crew became the core of the rebels, he finds himself carried away by the mood of the sailors. And the lieutenant makes the main decision in his life - he becomes the military leader of the uprising.
On November 14, Schmidt declared himself commander of the Black Sea Fleet, giving the signal: “I command the fleet. Schmidt." On the same day he sent a telegram Nicholas II: “The glorious Black Sea Fleet, sacredly remaining faithful to its people, demands from you, sovereign, the immediate convening of the Constituent Assembly and no longer obeys your ministers. Fleet Commander P. Schmidt.” His 16-year-old son Evgeniy, who participates in the uprising along with his father, also arrives on the ship to join his father.
The Ochakov team manages to free some of the previously arrested sailors from the battleship Potemkin. Meanwhile, the authorities are blocking the rebellious “Ochakov”, calling on the rebels to surrender.
On November 15, the red banner was raised over the Ochakov, and the revolutionary cruiser took on its first and last battle.
On other ships of the fleet, the rebels failed to take control of the situation. After an hour and a half battle, the uprising was suppressed, and Schmidt and its other leaders were arrested.
From execution to honors
The trial of Pyotr Schmidt took place in Ochakov from February 7 to 18, 1906, behind closed doors. The lieutenant who joined the rebel sailors was accused of preparing a mutiny while on active military service.
February 20, 1906 Pyotr Schmidt, as well as three instigators of the uprising at Ochakovo - Antonenko, Gladkov, Private owner- were sentenced to death.
On March 6, 1906, the sentence was carried out on Berezan Island. Schmidt’s college classmate, his childhood friend, commanded the execution. Mikhail Stavraki. Stavraki himself, 17 years later, already under Soviet rule, was found, tried and also shot.
After the February Revolution, the remains of Pyotr Petrovich Schmidt were reburied with military honors. The order for reburial was given future Supreme Ruler of Russia Admiral Alexander Kolchak. In May 1917 Minister of War and Navy Alexander Kerensky laid the officer's St. George's Cross on Schmidt's gravestone.
Schmidt's non-partisanship played into the hands of his posthumous fame. After the October Revolution, he remained among the most revered heroes of the revolutionary movement, which, in fact, was the reason for the appearance of people posing as the sons of Lieutenant Schmidt.
Schmidt's real son fought in Wrangel's army
The only real son of Peter Schmidt, Evgeniy Schmidt, was released from prison in 1906 as a minor. After the February Revolution, Evgeny Schmidt submitted a petition to the Provisional Government for permission to add the word “Ochakovsky” to his surname. The young man explained that this desire was caused by the desire to preserve in his offspring the memory of the name and tragic death of his revolutionary father. In May 1917, such permission was given to the son of Lieutenant Schmidt.
Schmidt-Ochakovsky did not accept the October Revolution. Moreover, he fought in the White Army, in shock units baron Wrangel, and left Russia after the final defeat of the White movement. He wandered through different countries; arrived in Czechoslovakia, where in 1926 he published the book “Lieutenant Schmidt. Memoirs of a Son,” full of disappointment in the ideals of the revolution. The book, however, was not a success. Among the emigration people, the son of Lieutenant Schmidt was not even treated with suspicion, he was simply not noticed. In 1930 he moved to Paris, and the last twenty years of his life were not marked by anything remarkable. He lived in poverty and died in Paris in December 1951.
The lieutenant's last lover, Zinaida Risberg, unlike his son, remained in Soviet Russia and even received a personal pension from the authorities. Based on the correspondence she saved with Peter Schmidt, several books were created, and even a film was made.
But the name of Lieutenant Schmidt was best preserved in history thanks to the satirical novel by Ilf and Petrov. Amazing irony of fate...
Lieutenant Schmidt (1867-1906) went down in history as the leader of the armed uprising of the sailors of the Black Sea Fleet against tsarism. It was November 1905. It was a time of the most severe crisis of power in the Russian Empire. The First Russian Revolution (1905-1907) was raging in the country. A wave of popular anger splashed out a motley, adventurous public. It was she who claimed leadership.
But these people were motivated not by a heightened sense of justice, but by a desire for power, the satisfaction of exorbitant ambitions and the desire for personal well-being. However, this is inherent in all revolutions and popular uprisings. So there was nothing new in the Russian rebellion. It was provoked by economic problems that no one wanted to solve. But we must give the government its due. It managed to stabilize the situation and restore law and order. True, these essential components were enough for only 10 years.
Our hero, who will be discussed below, was a rather ordinary person. He was ambitious, arrogant, but his desires never matched his capabilities. The situation was aggravated by a mental disorder, which immediately raises a completely logical question - how could a sick person become a military naval officer? This is explained by the presence of a high-ranking relative. He sat so high that from his office the whole of Russia was visible - from the Pacific Fleet to the Baltic. But let's take a step-by-step look at the entire fateful path of a man who managed, without the talent to do so, to get into the annals of history.
The beginning of life's journey
Pyotr Petrovich Schmidt (this is the full name of our hero) was born on February 5, 1867 in the glorious city of Odessa. He was of noble origin. The father's name was also Pyotr Petrovich. He was the bravest and most decent man who gave his entire life to the navy. He heroically defended Sevastopol during the Crimean War. He rose to the rank of rear admiral. But no one would ever remember the name of this worthy man if it were not for his unlucky son. Such are the grimaces of history.
Pyotr Petrovich Sr.’s first marriage was to the widow Skorobogatova (nee von Wagner). From this family connection 2 girls and a boy Peter were born. In 1877, his wife died and the children were left without a mother. But even before his father’s second marriage, our hero entered the Naval Cadet Corps. This happened in September 1880.
According to the memoirs of contemporaries, the boy had a quarrelsome character. He was characterized by causeless outbursts of anger and even hysteria. There was no self-control and courage in him, but the traits of an overripe lady who had spent too much time in girls prevailed. Clouds began to gather over Peter’s head, as the commander filed a report on his expulsion from the cadet corps for health reasons. But we already know that the boy’s father enjoyed unquestioned authority in the navy. But my uncle had even greater influence. His name was Vladimir Petrovich, and he held an important post in the Admiralty. Therefore, the commander’s report was taken into account, but he was not allowed to proceed.
In 1886, the young man successfully graduated from the cadet corps, received a worthy profession as a naval sailor and was promoted to midshipman. He was sent to serve in the Baltic Fleet. At that time, all young officers were sent there. They gained experience, and only then received assignments to the Pacific or Black Sea Fleet.
From the very first days of service, the unbalanced character of the young man began to manifest itself. But he apparently never crossed the line of decency, since no one challenged him to a duel. At least there is no such information. Another thing is the sailors, who fully experienced the extravagant character of the young boss. Among the officers, Peter did not make friends with anyone. He went on sick leave several times and was even treated in a mental hospital.
In 1888, a young officer stunned everyone with his desire to marry a prostitute, and a real one with a “yellow ticket.” He explained this act to those around him by saying that he wanted to save a lost fallen soul. At that time, neither Leo Tolstoy’s “Resurrection” nor Kuprin’s “The Pit” had yet been written. Therefore, the influence of the classics on the fragile young soul is excluded. Our hero himself came up with this act, which some called stupid, while others called it noble.
But the officers reacted sharply to this marriage. And in 1889, Peter was dismissed from military service with the rank of lieutenant. The dismissal, of course, was voluntary. He wrote the report himself, and his superiors readily signed it. This is how retired lieutenant Schmidt appeared.
The further fateful path of Lieutenant Schmidt
At a very young age, our hero found himself out of work, but with a wife and son, whom his wife hastened to give birth to. However, family life did not work out. Apparently the wife was attracted to a completely different type of man, since the betrayals began, and then a breakup occurred. The benefactor, who dreamed of saving the fallen soul, was abandoned along with the child, and the owner of this soul herself returned to her ancient profession.
And what could Pyotr Petrovich do? Of course, ask to return to the fleet. In 1892, a report was written to the highest name. The officer who stumbled was taken back to the Baltic Fleet, but with the rank of midshipman. In 1894 he was transferred to the Pacific Fleet. In 1895, he was awarded the military rank of lieutenant for the second time.
The state and navy treated the young officer with understanding and gave him the opportunity to serve for the good of the Fatherland. In 1896, Pyotr Petrovich improved his skills in long voyages, plowing the seas and oceans. But in 1897, the young man’s nervous illness worsened, and he was hospitalized for 3 months. In August of the same year, he had a conflict with the ship's commander. There is no point in quarreling with your superiors at all, let alone with a military man. For arguing with a senior in rank, the restive lieutenant was put in the guardhouse. But that didn't teach him anything. Exactly a year later, a conflict arose with the squadron commander.
Here the situation was much more serious, and Schmidt had to submit a request for dismissal from service. He was sent into retirement for the second time, but was given the opportunity to serve in the commercial fleet. This was noble on the part of the command, since Pyotr Petrovich did not know how to do anything in life and would simply die of hunger.
Our hero got a job in the Volunteer Fleet. It was a shipping company that existed on donations. It was there, on the steamship "Kostroma", that the lieutenant expelled from the navy continued his maritime activities. Russia bought this vessel from Great Britain. The ship was completely new and was making voyages between Vladivostok and Port Arthur. These were mainly transportation of military personnel.
In 1900, Pyotr Petrovich changed the ship. He was appointed senior mate on the ship "Olga". And then he began to serve as a captain on other ships. But in April 1904 he was again drafted into military service and sent to serve in the Black Sea Fleet. Appointed as senior officer on the coal transportation ship "Irtysh". In October 1904, the ship was assigned to the 2nd Pacific Squadron. He followed the warships, having on board large reserves of coal and military uniforms
But the brave lieutenant was not destined to reach the Indian Ocean. In the Mediterranean Sea he began to experience renal colic. In Port Said, Schmidt was removed from the ship and sent to Sevastopol for treatment. After recovery, he was transferred to the Black Sea Fleet. Thus, for objective reasons, our hero did not take part either in the legendary transition of the 2nd Pacific Squadron or in the Battle of Tsushima.
Rebel cruiser "Ochakov"
Revolutionary activities
In February 1905, Pyotr Petrovich was put in charge of 2 old destroyers stationed in Izmail. But, finding himself in an independent position, the commander immediately stole government money in the amount of 2.5 thousand rubles. At that time the amount was very large. With this money, the gallant lieutenant began to travel around the southern cities of the empire. He stayed in restaurants and rented expensive apartments. When the government goods ended, Pyotr Petrovich, as if nothing had happened, returned to service.
But the cruise through the southern cities did not go unnoticed. An audit was ordered, and then the investigation began. The lieutenant was accused of embezzlement of government funds and desertion. Everyone understands what they are punished for desertion in wartime. But the almighty uncle Vladimir Petrovich Schmidt intervened. He repaid the embezzlement from his own funds and saved his nephew from prison. The trial never took place, but the brazen embezzler was miserably kicked out of the fleet. There was nothing my uncle could do about it.
Pyotr Petrovich found himself out of work and in August 1905 he arrived in Sevastopol. And the city was seething, excited by the revolution. And our hero decided to go into politics in order to devote the rest of his life to the struggle for the happiness of the people. He immediately became popular among the revolutionaries, since other naval officers ignored all this brethren.
Lieutenant Schmidt always spoke nervously and exaltedly before the broad masses of the people. He knew how to get the crowd going by playing on its basest instincts. But calling for the overthrow of the monarchy was a criminal offense. Therefore, in October 1905, the newly minted revolutionary was arrested, which added to his popularity even more.
The excited sailor masses demanded that the authorities release the hero. She backed down and released Pyotr Petrovich from prison, but took the officer’s word of honor from him that he would immediately leave Sevastopol. However, the former embezzler did not keep his word. He did not go anywhere, and on November 14 he boarded the cruiser Ochakov, whose crew had rebelled. Our hero took upon himself the leadership of the uprising.
He declares himself commander of the Black Sea Fleet. The admiral's flag flies up on the cruiser. He proudly soars at the match, letting everyone know who is boss here now. A telegram is flying to St. Petersburg personally to the emperor. In it, the newly appointed commander demands the immediate convening of the Constituent Assembly and declares that the main fleet of the empire is no longer subordinate to the sovereign.
But the ships of the Black Sea Fleet responded very sluggishly to the passionate appeal of the rebel. Firstly, they did not recognize the new admiral, and secondly, they remained faithful to the oath and the Fatherland. Only the battleship Panteleimon (formerly Potemkin) expressed a desire to follow the impostor.
On November 15, after 2 p.m., the warships were ordered to destroy the rebels. At exactly 15:00, fire was opened on the rebel cruiser. Only a few shots were heard from Ochakov, and then the resistance stopped. The entire operation to suppress the rebellion took 1 hour and 40 minutes. But the self-proclaimed admiral was not on the mutinous ship. He managed to get onto the destroyer and tried to sail on it to the open sea. The chase began, the destroyer was hit. Pyotr Petrovich put on a sailor's uniform and wanted to deceive his pursuers in this way. But he was immediately recognized and arrested.
Monument to Lieutenant Schmidt
Trial and execution
A naval trial took place over the traitor. It took place from February 7 to February 18, 1906. The failed admiral tried to present himself as mentally ill. But the military board ignored this fact and sentenced the troublemaker who violated the oath to death. Together with him, three of the most active sailors were sentenced to death: Antonenko, Gladkov and Chastnikov.
The sentence was carried out on March 6, 1906. The execution took place on the island of Berezan (8 km from Ochakov in the Black Sea). They say that during the execution both Lieutenant Schmidt and the sailors behaved with dignity. They faced death courageously and did not ask for mercy.
The bodies of those executed were buried on the island. In May 1917, the remains were transported to Sevastopol and buried in the Intercession Cathedral, which was built in 1905. In the same month, the head of the Provisional Government, Kerensky, visited the grave. He placed the St. George Cross on the gravestone.
In November 1923, the remains of those executed were again reburied. This time they found shelter in the city cemetery of Kommunards. A monument was erected over the grave and even a pension was awarded to the woman whom Pyotr Petrovich loved. She proved her connection with the hero through the letters that he wrote to her. Streets and ships were named after the rebel lieutenant. But nowadays few people know this man. Only thanks to the “Golden Calf” by Ilf and Petrov, people still remember this name.
However, it should be understood that each era has its own heroes. But violating the oath and calling for a violent overthrow of power under any regime was and is considered a crime. So the described historical figure is far from unambiguous. Even now it finds both supporters and opponents. It all depends on the specific person and the time in which he lives.
Alexander Arsentiev
People need heroes. This simple rule was strictly followed by the Soviet authorities. However, it often led to the fact that some individuals, “canonized” by propaganda, actually only partially corresponded to their bright images.
In the case of the legendary naval officer, one of the leaders of the Sevastopol uprising of 1905, Pyotr Petrovich Schmidt, this part was perhaps too small. His phony swindler sons, who proliferated in the 20s, oddly enough, actually had a lot in common with their illustrious “father.”
The glorious dynasty of naval officers, whose offspring was Peter Schmidt, gave Russia quite a few valiant sailors. His father, who at the end of his life rose to the rank of rear admiral, was a hero of the defense of Sevastopol in 1854-1855. It was during these dramatic events that he met his future wife, Kyiv noblewoman Catherine von Wagner. The girl valiantly fulfilled her duty, working as a nurse. So young Pyotr Petrovich, born in February 1867, was destined for the fate of a military man.
Petr Petrovich Schmidt
We must pay tribute to Peter Schmidt; he really raved about the sea since childhood, and in 1880 he entered the St. Petersburg Naval School (Naval Cadet Corps). True, it quickly became clear that in reality military discipline was not for him. The boy immediately began to have nervous breakdowns and seizures. Only with the help of authoritative relatives did he overcome this stage of life and, upon graduation, was sent as a midshipman to the Baltic Fleet.
However, after just two years of service, the young officer commits an act that should put an end to his entire future career - he marries a woman with a “yellow ticket” - i.e. professional prostitute Dominika Pavlova. Peter Schmidt's father fell ill from such an act of his son and soon died. Further, his uncle, Vladimir Schmidt, senior flagship of the Baltic Fleet, was responsible for his fate. An influential relative managed to hush up the scandal and transfer his unlucky nephew to the Pacific Fleet.
Petr Petrovich Schmidt
In principle, the entire history of Pyotr Petrovich Schmidt’s service can serve as an example of how harmful family ties can be in cases where protégés really do not fit their place. His record is a motley patchwork of posts, ships, sick leave and punishments in a continuous sequence.
However, in 1895 he was promoted to lieutenant. He was fired several times and then returned to duty. It is interesting that during his retirement, Peter Schmidt lived for some time in Paris and studied aeronautics there. He returned to Russia, inspired by the idea of conquering the open spaces of the air, but during the first demonstration flight his balloon crashed. As a result, for the rest of his life he suffered from kidney disease, suffered as a result of the impact of the accident.
It should be noted that this man was truly mentally ill. In 1889, he even underwent treatment at the “Private Hospital of Doctor Savey-Mogilevich for the Nervous and Mentally Ill” in Moscow, and before that he treated neurasthenia at the Nagasaki Coastal Infirmary. From early youth he was prone to fits of uncontrollable rage, which often ended in spasms and convulsions.
It is possible that if he had been born in a calmer period for our country, his career would have ended quietly and ingloriously, without becoming a part of history. However, in moments of global change, such people, often possessing charisma, the talent of an orator and the ability to lead a crowd, sometimes turn out to be real “lighters” for revolutionary events.
Postcards depicting the hero of the Sevastopol uprising of 1905 P.P. Schmidt
By 1905, Lieutenant Schmidt, once again assigned by his uncle to a “warm” and quiet place - the commander of a detachment of two outdated destroyers in Izmail, managed to escape on a trip to the south of Russia, taking with him the detachment’s cash register. So, because of 2.5 thousand rubles, he once again, and now for the last time, parted with the fleet. Even a high-ranking relative could no longer cover up desertion in wartime, and even embezzlement. True, he helped return the money, but Pyotr Petrovich was expelled from military service.
Offended by everyone, Schmidt plunged headlong into politics - he began participating in rallies and speeches even before his dismissal, and now he openly joined the opposition during the riots in Sevastopol. Among the revolutionaries, a naval officer, and even with a well-delivered speech, was just in the right place and quickly gained popularity. His former numerous stints in guardhouses, and even his nervous temperament with periodic attacks (one happened right during a performance), gave him the aura of a sufferer.
One of the most famous was the speech of Peter Schmidt at the funeral of eight people who died during the riots. His fiery speech was preserved in history as the “Schmidt oath”: “We swear that we will never cede to anyone a single inch of the human rights we have won.”
“The Oath of Lieutenant Schmidt”, illustration from the Italian newspaper “II Secolo”, 1905.
In November 1905, when the unrest turned into a rebellion, Schmidt found himself practically the only Russian officer among the revolutionaries, which made him an indispensable figure. On the night of November 26, the rebels, together with Schmidt, arrived on the cruiser Ochakov and called on the sailors to join the “freedom movement.” The sailors took the cruiser into their own hands. Schmidt declared himself commander of the Black Sea Fleet, giving the signal: “I command the fleet. Schmidt". And immediately after this he sent a telegram to Nicholas II: “The glorious Black Sea Fleet, sacredly remaining faithful to its people, demands from you, sovereign, the immediate convocation of the Constituent Assembly and no longer obeys your ministers. Fleet Commander P. Schmidt.”
If the plans of the newly-minted hero had come true, the Crimean peninsula would have separated from Russia, forming the “South Russian Socialist Republic” with Lieutenant Schmidt himself, of course, at the head. As midshipman Harold Graf, who served with Pyotr Petrovich for several months, later recalled, Schmidt “came from a good noble family, knew how to speak beautifully, played the cello superbly, but at the same time was a dreamer and visionary”. Of course, he did not have the slightest opportunity to realize his fantasies. After the suppression of the rebellion, all the leaders of the Sevastopol uprising, including P.P. Schmidt, were shot on the island of Berezan by verdict of a naval court in March 1906.
Schmidt is escorted to the courthouse, February 1906.
However, the death of a bright and memorable personality, as often happens, even made him even more popular. After the February Revolution of 1917, this name was again used as a symbol of the revolutionary struggle, as a result of which the unlucky officer and failed rebel became one of the most famous faces of the revolution.
To the question of who he really was - a hero, a mentally ill person or a swindler-embezzler, one can probably answer that he was, indeed, both. Finding himself in the right place at the right time, this strange and controversial personality was able to leave his mark on history. A huge number of streets, parks, factories and educational institutions named in his honor in our country still preserve this name for posterity.
Monument at the grave of P. P. Schmidt at the cemetery of the Communards in Sevastopol
Peter Schmidt was born into the family of a respected and honored veteran of the first Sevastopol defense. On both his father's and mother's sides he was Russian German.
The mother of the future “red” lieutenant E. von Wagner met her future husband Peter Schmidt in besieged Sevastopol, where she worked in a hospital as a nurse. P. Schmidt's brother, Vladimir, was a junior flagship under Admiral Butakov, commanded the Pacific squadron, became a member of the Admiralty Council, became an admiral and holder of all orders that were at that time, and then a senator. The uncle treated his nephew as if he were his own son and never left him without attention and care. In addition, he was also the godfather of the future lieutenant. Therefore, the career of the young hero was already assured. He easily entered the Marine Corps, but he did not have good relations with his fellow students, he was suspected of theft, no one was friends with him, he was considered a psycho and was not expelled only because of his connections.
After completing his training, Peter Schmidt is sent to serve as a midshipman in the Baltic Fleet. But the service did not go well at first. Peter's ambition caused rejection from the ship's crew.
Schmidt's next act shocked his entire family. He married a street prostitute with the goal of re-educating her. Her name was Domenika Pavlova. Schmidt's act was a demonstrative challenge. Michmano was threatened with expulsion from the fleet. At this time, Peter's father dies and the only trump card he has is his uncle, the senator. To avoid publicity of this case, the uncle sends his nephew to the Pacific squadron and gives him bail to Rear Admiral Chukhin. My uncle thought that the romance of naval service would correct Peter Schmidt, but the opposite happened, he immediately established himself as a difficult person, and during 1.5 years of service he was expelled from almost all the wardrooms of the squadron.
Soon Schmidt began having mental seizures and was admitted to a corresponding clinic in Nagasaki. After this, the uncle decides to take his nephew to St. Petersburg.
Schmidt's wife, when she found out that he was crazy, went back to the panel and left her son with Schmidt. At this time, during a period of mental disorder, he was struck by the idea of building a balloon and flying with bombs to France; why exactly Schmidt hated Paris is unknown.
Next, the uncle arranges for Peter to serve in the Voluntary Fleet. For several years, Schmidt sailed as a senior officer on the ship "Kostroma", then as a captain on the ship "Diana". His health is noticeably improving.
In 1904, the Russian-Japanese War began and Schmidt, as a person liable for military service, was drafted into the active fleet and appointed senior officer of the Irtysh military transport. The ship became part of the Second Pacific Squadron. The squadron began its passage across three oceans. The Irtysh is sent along the shortest route through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. There was danger ahead - a meeting with the Japanese fleet. A good opportunity for Schmidt to prove himself, but in Suez he jumps ship. The reason for his action is difficult to establish now; historians say that he left the ship due to some illness that he contracted in tropical latitudes or that he was again overcome by mental attacks.
Peter Schmidt understood that the Second Squadron had no chance, it was simply doomed to death, but all the sailors knew this, but they remained on the ship and did not disembark, as Peter did. You can’t call him a hero here... In the Battle of Tsushima, the entire crew of the Irtysh military transport died heroically. Most of the squadron was staffed by civilians; they could not be forced to die at all, but people fought for their fatherland, unlike Schmidt, they were heroes.
The uncle transfers Schmidt to the Black Sea Fleet, which did not participate in the war with Japan. Then Chukhin was appointed commander of the fleet. The boss and the subordinate met again. To make it easier for Peter to serve, Chukhin appoints him commander of a small destroyer. Despite the fact that the Black Sea Fleet did not participate in the battles, it still remained in full combat readiness.
A mysterious committee was formed in 1905, its goal was to form a republic in the south of Russia. Committee members appoint Schmidt as protector of the South Russian Republic. The uprising in Odessa began on the morning of June 13, 1905. During the uprising, Schmidt was in Odessa, but did not show himself in any way. Events unfolded so rapidly that he decided to return to Izmail. And then events take a steeper turn.
Schmidt steals the money of the destroyer detachment entrusted to him (almost 2,500 gold) and deserts. The reason for this action was probably fear against the backdrop of the Odessa events. But here it was no longer the psychiatric hospital that was crying behind him, but the tribunal.
Schmidt began to travel from Kerch to Kyiv, skipping government money. In Kyiv, at horse racing, lady Zinaida Risberg draws attention to the officer. It seemed very strange to her to see an officer at the races when there was a war, and even with a large sum of money. They began an affair, but it ended just as quickly, because Schmidt simply ran out of money. After that the lady quickly disappeared. Schmidt learns that he went unnoticed in the Odessa events and will only have to answer for desertion and theft of state money. With the beginning of autumn, the activities of the Odessa committee members in Sevastopol sharply intensified, and the lieutenant was supposed to appear there. Therefore, Schmidt had no choice but to go and give up. But in this case he acts very competently. He does not go to Izmail, but heads to Sevastopol and telegraphs to his uncle for help. Regarding desertion, he comes up with a version according to which he was forced to leave because of his sister’s family problems in order to help her. Schmidt had a good relationship with his sister and she could help him organize an alibi for himself. Regarding the money, he claims that he was robbed on the train. But later he has to confess under the pressure of facts.
The uncle pays off his nephew's debts from his own pocket. Schmidt is fired after his uncle's petition and is not sent to prison. At this time, peace negotiations are underway with Japan. The uncle provides his nephew with the opportunity to return as a captain to the commercial fleet. Immediately after the order of dismissal, Schmidt begins to actively speak at rallies in Sevastopol. He does this expansively and does not spare himself. After another rally, Schmidt is arrested. Chukhin is powerless in this, since the gendarmerie has taken charge of Peter. The retired lieutenant is sent to prison. Now he is not just a retired lieutenant, but a martyr for freedom! For this, the Social Revolutionaries elected him as a lifelong deputy of the Sevastopol City Council. In order not to escalate the situation in the city, Schmidt is released from prison on the promise that he will leave Sevastopol. Schmidt, of course, promises, but when he leaves the gate he forgets about this promise. And a few days later he is announced at the head of the uprising on the cruiser Ochakov.
By the time Schmidt appeared on Ochakov, nothing had yet been decided about the mutiny. No one yet knew who the crews of the ships of the Sevastopol squadron and the soldiers of the garrison would follow. The chances of success were high. Several ships had already joined the rebel "Ochakov", and the crews were worried about the rest. The fact that it was not possible to lure most of the fleet to its side is primarily the fault of Schmidt himself. Schmidt's mental state left much to be desired. The uprising was in full swing and not a single shot had been fired at Ochakov. According to eyewitnesses, Schmidt missed many opportunities to attack while the command hesitated.
In the morning, none of the battleships joined Schmidt. Finally he realized that something had to be done. He put on the shoulder straps of a captain of the 2nd rank and raised a signal on the destroyer: “I command the fleet. Schmidt! - and walked around the ships of the squadron, agitating the sailors to join him. Having walked around the squadron and shouting slogans calling for the fight for freedom, he returned to the rebel cruiser with nothing. When it was clear that no more help could be expected from Ochakov, the revolutionary enthusiasm on the ships of the squadron abruptly died down. The opportunity to turn the situation in our favor was completely lost.
Chukhin quickly assessed the situation and immediately restored order with his “iron” hand. At this time, Schmidt had another hysteria. "Ochakov" was facing an artillery battle. Despite the fact that "Ochakov" stood at the exit from the bay, it could not sail - there was no coal. When Schmidt realized that no one would help him, he again became hysterical. He gathers the sailors and speaks of their defeat, although the battle has not even begun.
Chukhin sends a truce to Schmidt with a proposal to surrender. To which Schmidt replies that he will only talk to his Marine Corps classmates. Several officers with whom he studied were immediately sent to Schmidt. But as soon as he steps onto the deck, Schmidt takes them prisoner. Schmidt tells Chukhin that after each shot at the cruiser, he will hang one officer from the yards. Chukhin, despite the demands, puts forward an ultimatum that “Ochakov” surrender within an hour. At 16:00 the ultimatum expires. The ships of the squadron fire several shots at the rebel ship.
To delay defeat, Schmidt tries to attack government ships with torpedoes. He also brings the Bug mine transport aboard the Ochakov, which at that time was loaded with 300 mines, which is 1,200 pounds of pyroxylin. Schmidt does this with the aim of blackmailing Chukhin and in this way he wants to protect himself from shelling. Lieutenant Schmidt wanted to take the whole of Sevastopol hostage. If it exploded, the Bug would have claimed thousands of lives. But the Bug team managed to sink their ship and deprived Schmidt of his “trump card”.
The Black Sea Fleet was not going to destroy its newest cruiser; Chukhin’s task was to force the rebels to cease fire and surrender. When the rebels surrendered, the command stopped shelling Ochakov. According to official data, only 6 salvos were fired at the cruiser. During the salvos, commander Schmidt showed himself to be a complete insignificance; he probably went into another hysteria, this was confirmed by the participants in the uprising at Ochakov.
Schmidt does the same as when commanding the Irtysh and deserts from the Ochakov; he was the first to leave the ship with his son immediately after the shelling began. Subsequently, Schmidt justified his action by saying that he left the ship after the fire, when there was nothing left to do there. At full speed, Schmidt headed for the exit from the bay on the destroyer. It is believed that he wanted to flee to Turkey. After the “red lieutenant” once again refused to surrender, his destroyer was hit with several precise salvos and the ship was captured. During the initial inspection, the ship was not found; it was found later. He was hiding under the rubble in the most shameful way, wearing a sailor's uniform and trying to pass himself off as a fireman. But despite his cunning, he was identified.
Then there was a high-profile trial and execution of the lieutenant on Berezan Island. Schmidt had done his job and now had to leave. He achieved his goal - after his death the whole world started talking about him.
The year 1917 came and the name Schmidt became popular again. The fact that few people knew about his exploits served as an impetus for the creation of various legends and the exploitation of his name by everyone who had the need for it.
It must also be said that no one knows the true political views of Peter Schmidt. What is known is that he was an active supporter of the convening of the Constituent Assembly. The cultivated romantic image of Schmidt as a lone fighter capable of giving his life also raises doubts. Repeated desertions prove otherwise.
Lieutenant Schmidt was not a member of any party. But when passions began to boil in Sevastopol, he immediately joined the opposition and became its activist. He was a good speaker and participated in anti-government rallies, speaking sharply and energetically, for which he was arrested. His mental attacks at rallies were assessed by the public as a revolutionary obsession for a common idea.
Meanwhile, after the execution of Schmidt, revolutionary passions in the country continued to simmer. Young people began to appear at rallies who called themselves “the children of Lieutenant Schmidt,” who spoke on behalf of their father who died for freedom. They called for revenge for the death of their hero father and to fight against the tsarist regime. Lieutenant Schmidt's children raised good funds at rallies; many did not hesitate to donate money to help the revolution. The lieutenant’s sons were divorced all over Russia, and what’s more, the lieutenant’s daughters also began to appear. Since until then the real son of Lieutenant Schmidt was unknown and there was nowhere to get accurate information from, the newspapermen described him in their own way. Thus, each newspaper gave birth to its own son, Lieutenant Schmidt.
Then the sons of Lieutenant Schmidt began to multiply, who had nothing to do with the party. Newspapers wrote almost every day about the capture of another lieutenant’s son. For about a year, Lieutenant Schmidt’s children flourished, and then, when, with the decline of revolutionary sentiment, the rallies at which it was possible to go around the crowd with a hat to promote the development of the revolution ended, they disappeared somewhere and changed their repertoire.
In Soviet times, the children of Lieutenant Schmidt were born in the 20s, exactly coinciding with the chronology of the novel “The Golden Calf” by Ilf and Petrov. In 1925, celebrating the twentieth anniversary of the revolution, veterans discovered that almost nothing was known about its heroes in the country. The party press reacted instantly and the names of counter-revolutionaries began to be revived on the pages of newspapers. Lieutenant Peter Schmidt became the record holder, and this gave birth to new children of the lieutenant, who scattered throughout the Soviet Union.
The true story of the son of Lieutenant Eugene is that in 1917 he joined the “Whites” and fought against the “Reds”. He then fled to Prague and later moved to Paris, where he died in 1951. But making the lieutenant a hero of the revolution, the party overlooked this biographical information about his son. Thus a hero was created and on this soil thousands of children of Lieutenant Schmidt were born.
“Today is a wonderful morning, I woke up very early, opened the window, I smelled the morning, freshness and joy, and I thought about you. I feel better thinking about you, thoughts take away sadness, give energy to work. Our fleeting, ordinary, carriage the meeting, our slowly but ever-deepening rapprochement in correspondence, my faith in you - all this often leads me to think about whether we will pass without a trace for life, for each other. And if not without a trace, then what we will bring to each other: joy or sorrow?..”
Acquaintance
The revolution of 1905 brought many extraordinary personalities to the forefront of political life, but even against their background, Schmidt looked unusual. First of all, because many of his actions looked simply insane. Perhaps this was not due to better heredity: his great-uncle ended his days in a hospital, two older brothers died in their youth from “brain fever”, his sister Maria suffered from nervous attacks, which eventually drove her to suicide...
He began his naval service in the Black Sea Fleet with hysterics in the office of the fleet commander, Admiral Kulagin: “Being in an extremely excited state, he said the most absurd things.” One of the reasons for the nervous breakdown was the behavior of his wife, a former prostitute, who stubbornly refused to re-educate. The young officer was sent to a naval hospital, and from there on a long leave. After leaving the clinic, Schmidt was dismissed from service with the rank of lieutenant. And, having received the inheritance of his deceased aunt, he left for Paris, where he entered the aeronautics school. One day the balloon crashed, Schmidt hit the ground and got chronic kidney disease...
In the spring of 1892, Peter again asked for naval service. Once in the Far East, he changed almost all the warships and did not get along with any of them. He even managed to ruin his relationship with the squadron commander, Rear Admiral Grigory Chukhnin, an old acquaintance of his uncle. In 1898, he got rid of the restless lieutenant, transferring him to the reserve for the second time.
During their acquaintance, Peter Schmidt and Zinaida Risberg met twice
And in 1904 the Russo-Japanese War broke out. Due to large losses of sailors, Schmidt was again called up to the fleet and appointed senior officer of the Irtysh transport, which was supposed to go to the Far East with the Russian squadron. But along the way, in Egypt, he was written off the ship allegedly due to kidney disease - in fact, the captain was tired of his antics...
Returning from Port Said to Sevastopol, Schmidt learns about the beginning of the revolution in Russia. And he will throw himself headlong into the class struggle. And in August 1905, in a carriage compartment, he met Zinaida (Ida) Risberg. And he will bombard her with tender, nervous, demanding letters.
“Do I have great power of conviction and feeling? Am I resilient? I will answer you to the first question: yes, I have a lot of power of conviction and feeling, and I can, I know, embrace a crowd with them and lead them. I will tell you the second: no, I have no endurance, and therefore everything I do is not a dull, stubborn, hard struggle, but it is a firework that can illuminate the way for others for a while, but goes out itself. And this consciousness brings me a lot of suffering, and there are moments, when I’m ready to punish myself because I don’t have the stamina.”
Riot
On October 18, 1905, troops shot a peaceful demonstration in Sevastopol that came out to celebrate the manifesto of Nicholas II “On the Granting of Rights.” Among its ranks was Schmidt, who the next day was elected a member of the Council of People's Deputies and gave a speech in the City Duma. After which the unknown lieutenant began to gain political weight before our eyes. He spoke almost every day, promised to give his life for the people, cried himself and brought tears to his listeners. He was arrested, but was soon released for fear of unrest.
And on November 11, unrest began on the cruiser "Ochakov", which had not yet been commissioned and was undergoing repairs in Sevastopol.
His team - 380 people - assembled "from the pine forest" turned out to be an easy target for revolutionary propaganda. On November 14, Schmidt appeared on the mutinous ship and announced that the city council had appointed him as the new commander instead of the previous one, who fled ashore along with other officers. The sailors greeted these words with a thunderous “hurray.”
One of the meeting participants saw him like this: “Above average height, about 43 years old, thin, brown-haired; his pale face and sunken cheeks gave him the appearance of a man who had suffered a lot.” What the lieutenant wanted is still unclear. At a meeting of the rebels, he announced that he planned to raise the fleet in rebellion and force the tsar to convene a Constituent Assembly. According to another version, he was going to separate Crimea from Russia and become its president. The third option is to march on Moscow and St. Petersburg.
In any case, Schmidt's chances of achieving his goal were negligible. True, the rebels managed to capture 14 more ships in addition to the Ochakov, but none of the officers took their side; the ships could not even leave the bay. In addition, the officers managed to take away or damage the locks on the guns. Without weapons, fuel and food, the uprising was doomed to failure. Realizing this, the rebels seized the port arsenal, requisitioned food supplies in warehouses, and at the same time took more than a hundred officers hostage.
At dawn on November 15, Schmidt ordered to raise a red flag over the Ochakov and give the signal: “Command of the fleet. Schmidt.” After that, he walked around the anchored squadron on the destroyer "Ferocious", calling on the sailors to come over to his side. In response, only the battleship "Saint Panteleimon", the former "Potemkin", raised a red banner. On the other ships, the sailors were silent, and the officers called the lieutenant a bandit and a traitor.
Having completed his rounds, he burst into tears: “There are slaves all around! Damn you, slave city! Let’s leave here for Odessa, Feodosia, wherever!”
He will write new letters to Zinaida Risberg from prison.
“It’s a shame to be cut off from life at the moment when it filled with a mighty key... In my box in which I’m sitting, you can only take two steps. In order not to suffocate, air is pumped into me through a pipe. Give me happiness. Give me at least a little happiness so that I can be strong with you and not flinch, not give up in battle..."
The battle
He really did not give up in the decisive battle. And he acted quite competently: first of all, he demanded that Vice Admiral Chukhnin not shoot at the Ochakov, threatening otherwise to hang hostages from the yards every hour. Then he protected himself from an attack from the shore with the Bug mine transport - its explosion threatened to destroy half of Sevastopol. And he agreed to negotiations only after the squadron had been withdrawn from the port, and troops loyal to the government had been withdrawn from the city. However, the authorities were not going to talk for long. The gunboat "Terets" approached the "Bug" and managed to sink it. At 16.00 the squadron opened fire on the Ochakov and other rebel ships.
Forgive me, my dove, tenderly, madly beloved, that I write to you like this, I say “you” to you, but the strict, dying seriousness of my situation allows me to abandon all conventions
After the first volleys, the sailors began to jump into the water. Amid the general panic, the officers locked in the cockpit managed to get out, tore down the red flag and raised the white one. At least 40 rebels died; there were no casualties among the sailors of the squadron. The battle lasted only 45 minutes.
Lieutenant Schmidt, stained with soot, tried to pass himself off as a fireman, but was immediately exposed. He was transported to the flagship battleship Rostislav, then to the garrison prison and then to the Ochakov fortress.
Wait for trial.
“I wrote to you at every opportunity, but these letters probably did not reach you, forgive me, my dove, tenderly, madly beloved, that I write to you like this, I say “you” to you, but the strict, dying seriousness of my situation allows me throw away all conventions.
You know what the source of my suffering was and is - that you didn’t come... After all, you don’t know that before execution they give you the right to say goodbye, and I would ask you, but you don’t. This would be terrible for me and the last grief in my life..."
Court
The trial of the rebels began in Ochakov on February 7, 1906. Public opinion was on Schmidt's side, and he was defended by the best Russian lawyers. They argued that it was illegal to bring him before a military court, since he was not in military service at the time of his arrest. Or they even demanded his release from trial as insane.
However, Schmidt categorically refused to be examined. And on February 14 he made a long - more than reasonable - speech in his own defense. He called himself a monarchist and said that he did not want revolution and bloodshed. He unexpectedly confessed his love for his main enemy: “If I could spend at least one hour with Admiral Chukhnin, we would agree on our love for the people and would cry together.” The speech caused protests among the accused sailors from the Ochakov - if they knew that Schmidt was a monarchist, they would never have allowed him on the ship!
In prison, the lieutenant was visited by his sister and Ida Risberg; the latter, seeing the prisoner, collapsed on the bunk shouting: “Poor Petya!”
“Tomorrow you will come to me to connect your life with mine and so walk with me as long as I live. We hardly saw each other... The spiritual connection that united us at a distance gave us a lot of happiness and a lot of grief, but unity ours in our tears, and we have reached a complete, almost unknown to people, spiritual merging into a single life.”
On March 18, Pyotr Schmidt was sentenced to hang, and three more Ochakovites - Sergei Chastnik, Nikita Antonenko and Alexander Gladkov - were sentenced to death. Schmidt had a sore throat, he asked his sister to send medicine: “What, will they hang me for my sore throat?” However, Chukhnin relented and replaced the hanging with “shooting”.
The day before, Zinaida Risberg came to his cell. Many years later she will talk about this:
“Pyotr Petrovich was waiting for me at the window. When I entered, he came up to me, holding out both hands. Then he rushed around the dungeon, clutching his head with his hand... A dull groan escaped from his chest, he lowered his head on the table, I put my hands before today's meeting, the thought of the death penalty was something abstract, caused by reason, and after the meeting, when I saw Schmidt, heard his voice, saw him as a living, real person, loving life, full of life, this thought It was hard to fit into my brain..."
The execution took place on March 6 on the deserted island of Berezan. The commander was Mikhail Stavraki, Schmidt’s childhood friend, who sat at the same desk with him. Approaching the lieutenant standing in front of the line of soldiers, he crossed himself and knelt down. Pyotr Petrovich said: “Better tell your people to aim straight at the heart.”
Last letter
After the revolution, Captain 2nd Rank Stavraki was shot. Even earlier, Vice Admiral Chukhnin was killed: the revolutionaries opened a real hunt for him; in June 1906, Chukhnin was shot at his own dacha by the gardener-sailor Akimov, who later became a Soviet writer-marinist under the pseudonym Nikolai Nikandrov.
Chukhnin was buried in the Sevastopol Vladimir Cathedral next to Nakhimov and Kornilov. Schmidt, executed by him, was buried in Berezan; his body was not given to his relatives. The popularity of the deceased was such that fake “sons” appeared in several cities. But the real son Evgeniy did not accept Soviet power, fought against it in Wrangel’s army, and released memories of his father in exile.
The solemnly celebrated 20th anniversary of the 1905 revolution raised Schmidt's popularity to new heights: he was reburied in the Sevastopol Communards cemetery, streets were named after him, poems were dedicated to him (one of them was written by Boris Pasternak).
New impostors also appeared, who comically played up Ilf and Petrov in the story about the “children of Lieutenant Schmidt.” It is unlikely that the authors would have been allowed to joke so freely about other heroes of the revolution. But Soviet agitprop always looked down on Schmidt: a confusion, a loser, a neurasthenic...
That is, in essence, what he was. But this cannot devalue his reckless courage - a lone fighter against the system that our history places so highly.
And this cannot devalue his strange, short and unrequited love.
Zinaida Risberg: “On February 18, the verdict was read in its final form and we were allowed to say goodbye right there in the courthouse. I could cling to his hand... He hugged me, hugged his sister and hurried off... The attorney at law... gave me the last Schmidt's letter.
“Farewell, Zinaida! Today I accepted the verdict in final form, probably 7-8 days are left before the execution. Thank you for coming to make my last days easier. Live, Zinaida. ... Love life as before... I’m going to [ death] cheerfully, joyfully and solemnly. Once again I thank you for those six months of life-correspondence and for your arrival. I embrace you, live, be happy. I am happy that I fulfilled my duty. And, perhaps, I did not live in vain."
* On Schmidt's shoulders there are shoulder straps with two gaps. These were reserved for senior officers. Having resigned, Lieutenant Peter Schmidt believed that upon dismissal he would be granted a new rank, and even took a photo with the corresponding shoulder straps. It didn't come true...
Letters of Peter Schmidt are published based on the book by Zinaida Risberg “Lieutenant P.P. Schmidt. Letters, memories, documents” (M., 1922).