The young furniture-factory heir whose plant became the heart of the Presnya uprising
Arrested and taken to the Semyonovsky regiment camp, Shmit was stood against a wall and threatened with execution on the spot; broken by days of sleep deprivation and interrogation, he finally confessed.
Heir to a Moscow furniture factory who threw himself into the 1905 Revolution, turning his plant into an arsenal, hospital, and morgue for workers' fighting squads and providing the material base for the Presnya armed uprising. He introduced a nine-hour workday and wage increases, and gave 20,000 rubles to the RSDLP for arming the workers. Arrested after the December uprising was crushed, he was tortured and died under suspicious circumstances in Butyrka prison; his inheritance of about 280,000 rubles became a critical financial foundation for the Bolsheviks.
Career Timeline
- 1902Father's death; inherited the furniture factory
- 1904Came of age, assumed full control of the factory
- 1905Introduced 9-hour workday and wage rises; gave 20,000 rubles to RSDLP; turned factory into a revolutionary stronghold
- 1905.12Presnya uprising: factory served as arsenal, hospital and morgue, destroyed by Semyonovsky regiment artillery
- 1905.12.18Arrested, tortured and threatened with execution
- 1907.02.13Died under suspicious circumstances in Butyrka prison