Dmitry Bogrov

Dmitry Bogrov was a Ukrainian Jewish lawyer, known for his assassination of the Russian Prime Minister Pyotr Stolypin in 1911. He was raised in a wealthy and educated family in Kyiv, where he developed sympathies for revolutionary socialism and anarchism from an early age. He became involved with the Ukrainian anarchist movement while studying law at university, but later became disillusioned by their lack of action and effectiveness. He was hired as an informant by the Okhrana, the Tsarist secret police, and kept them informed of the activities of revolutionaries and liberals. He moved to Saint Petersburg after graduating, where he practiced law and sought safety from the rising antisemitism in the Russian Empire. He was disturbed by the pogroms and the repression of the 1905 Revolution, and blamed Stolypin for the violence and injustice. He plotted to assassinate him, but failed to gain the support of the Socialist Revolutionary Party, which caused him to have a nervous breakdown. He returned to Kyiv, where he was confronted by his former anarchist comrades, who had discovered his collaboration with the Okhrana and threatened to kill him. He resolved to assassinate Stolypin again, and managed to get a ticket to the Kyiv Opera House, where the prime minister was attending a play with the Tsar. He shot Stolypin twice, wounding him fatally. He was arrested on the spot and tried by a military court. He was sentenced to death and hanged three days later. His role and motives in the assassination have been the subject of controversy and speculation, as some historians have suggested that he was acting as a double agent, or that he was manipulated by the Okhrana or other forces. His assassination is considered one of the events that contributed to the downfall of the Tsarist regime and the outbreak of the Russian Revolution.