Narodnaya Volya's chief explosives expert who designed the bombs that killed Alexander II and sketched a manned rocket from his death cell
"I believe in the practicability of my idea and this belief sustains me in my appalling situation… I will then calmly meet death, knowing that my idea will not die with me" — from his prison letter, March 1881.
A Russian revolutionary who served as Narodnaya Volya's chief explosives technician, designing the hand-thrown bombs used in the assassination of Tsar Alexander II. While awaiting execution in prison, he drafted the world's first design for a manned rocket-propelled flying apparatus, incorporating powdered propellant, gimbaled thrust control, and stabilizer wings, which was rediscovered by Bolshevik researchers in 1918 and later recognized by Konstantin Tsiolkovsky as his greatest predecessor.
Activities and affiliations
Career Timeline
- 1871Entered the St. Petersburg Institute of Railway Engineers
- 1873Transferred to the Medical-Surgery Academy; began rocket propulsion experiments
- 1875–1878Imprisoned in Kiev's Lukyanovskaya Prison for distributing banned literature
- 1879Joined Narodnaya Volya; became its chief explosives technician
- 1881.2Published "Political Revolution and the Economic Question" in Narodnaya Volya newspaper
- 1881.3.1Fabricated the four hand-thrown bombs used in the assassination of Alexander II
- 1881.3.23Completed the manned rocket aircraft design in Petropavlovsk Fortress prison
- 1881.4.3Hanged with the other Pervomartovtsy at Semyonovsky parade ground
Technical work and political writing for Narodnaya Volya
In 1879 Kibalchich joined the “Freedom or Death” group formed within Land and Liberty, then became an operative for the Executive Committee of Narodnaya Volya. He ran the organization’s explosives laboratory and worked as its “chief technician,” preparing attempts on the life of Alexander II. The hand-thrown bombs he designed and made, using “explosive jelly,” were used in the attack on the Catherine Canal on March 1, 1881. The emperor was fatally wounded, and Kibalchich was arrested on March 17.
His work was not limited to explosives. In “Political Revolution and the Economic Question,” published in Narodnaya Volya’s newspaper on February 5, 1881, he discussed the relation between the economic and political tasks of the revolutionary movement. The article placed him in debates within the populist movement over how political and socioeconomic transformation should be related. Tried in connection with the March 1 attack, Kibalchich was sentenced to death and hanged on April 3 (Old Style; April 15 New Style), 1881.