Kadet orator who branded the gallows 'Stolypin's necktie'
What Mr. Purishkevich calls the Muravyov collar, his descendants will perhaps call the Stolypin necktie…
A Russian liberal politician who began as a progressive zemstvo activist in Tver province, helped found the Constitutional Democratic (Kadet) Party, and served in all four State Dumas. One of the Duma's finest orators, on 17 November 1907 he denounced Stolypin's field courts-martial from the rostrum as 'Stolypin's necktie,' a phrase that became emblematic of the repression; an enraged Stolypin challenged him to a duel, and Rodichev had to apologize. After the February Revolution he served as the Provisional Government's Commissar for Finnish Affairs, opposed the October Revolution by joining the White camp, and died in exile in Lausanne.
Activities and affiliations
Career Timeline
- 1876Volunteered in the Serbo-Turkish War
- 1877–1895Zemstvo activist, Tver province; marshal of nobility, Vesegonsk district (1879–1891)
- 1898–1904Sworn attorney in St. Petersburg; exiled for signing protest over student beatings
- 1904–1905Co-organizer of zemstvo congresses and the Banquet Campaign; co-founder of the Kadet Party
- 1906–1917Kadet deputy to I–IV State Dumas; Central Committee member
- 1917.03–05Provisional Government Commissar for Finnish Affairs
- 1918–1920Joined the White movement; representative in Serbia and Poland
- 1920–1933In emigration: Paris, then Lausanne until his death
Related historical events
- 1905–1907The Revolution of 1905the Duma deputy who coined 'Stolypin's necktie'In a Duma speech on 17 November 1907, he called the gallows 'Stolypin's necktie', provoking Stolypin to challenge him to a duel; the phrase became an emblem of the repression.
- 1917.10–1918.01The October RevolutionWhite movement member opposing the October RevolutionHe opposed the October Revolution and joined the White camp.
- 1918–1922The Civil War and Foreign InterventionParticipant in the White movementFrom 1918 to 1920, he joined the White movement.
The 1907 Duma and "Stolypin's necktie"
The clash with Stolypin in the Third Duma chamber on 17 November 1907 was what made Rodichev's name known across Russia. He rose to denounce the field courts-martial introduced during the suppression of the 1905 Revolution, the military tribunals that carried out summary executions. The right-wing and Octobrist majority met the speech with constant shouts and interruptions; losing his composure, the orator said that what Purishkevich called the Muravyov collar his descendants would perhaps call the Stolypin necktie. The chamber erupted, and Stolypin, who was present, demonstratively left the session and challenged the deputy to a duel. Rodichev apologized personally, saying that he had never intended to insult the head of the cabinet and sincerely regretted words that had been misunderstood; Stolypin accepted the apology but did not offer his hand. As a result Rodichev was stripped of the right to take part in the Duma's work for fifteen sessions. The formulation that branded the gallows became the emblem of that repression.