A lawyer who crossed the boundary between law and politics in revolution
On 4 July 1917, he authorized the press release of treason allegations aimed at the Bolshevik leadership.
Pavel Pereverzev was a Russian lawyer known for defending political defendants under the imperial regime, then taking on legal administration during the revolution. In July 1917 he released press material alleging Bolshevik links with Germany, helping intensify the political crackdown, while the reliability and interpretation of the evidence remained disputed. Criticized for acting without full coordination with the government, he resigned, later emigrated, and became active in Russian émigré legal organizations in France.
Activities and affiliations
Career Timeline
- 1894Graduated from the Faculty of Law, Saint Petersburg University
- 1901Began practice as an attorney-at-law
- 1915Defence counsel for Bolshevik deputies of the Fourth State Duma
- 1917.03Procurator of the Petrograd Judicial Chamber
- 1917.05–07Minister of Justice in the Provisional Government
- 1920–1921Lived in exile in Constantinople and Tunis
- 1927–1944Worked in Russian émigré lawyers’ organizations in France
Related historical events
From defending political defendants to the Provisional Government’s legal administration
Under the imperial regime, Pereverzev defended defendants in political cases, including people connected with workers’ and revolutionary movements. In 1915 he defended Bolshevik deputies to the State Duma and stressed at trial that they had represented workers’ suffering and needs. He was also imprisoned for eight months in the Peter and Paul Fortress after signing a protest letter concerning the Beilis affair. After the February Revolution in 1917, he became prosecutor of the Petrograd Judicial Chamber. He investigated unlawful acts by officials of the tsarist regime and sought to impose procedural limits on arrests of former regime figures by requiring a written order from the prosecutor. As justice minister in the Provisional Government, he was present when troops stormed the Durnovo dacha, occupied by anarchists. In July he ordered the publication of counterintelligence material alleging financial links between the Bolsheviks and German authorities. The publication drew criticism from government leaders and was followed by his resignation. The material’s reliability and significance remain disputed. His career illustrates the tension between political defense and legal procedure on one hand, and the revolutionary government’s exercise of coercive power on the other.