Izvestiya of Saratov University.
ISSN 1819-4907 (Print)
ISSN 2542-1913 (Online)


Boris Savinkov

«The Аthlete of the revolution»: strokes to the historical & psychological portrait of B. V. Savinkov

In this paper, using anthropological, historical and psychological techniques, the identity of one of the most controversial and prominent figures of revolutionary terrorism – Boris Viktorovich Savinkov - is investigated. Analyzing the texts of V. Ropshin’s fiction works, memoires and official documents, the author attempts to describe the inner world and the moral and ethical attitudes of Savinkov, and thus add some specific features of the historical portrait of the one of the key figures of the Russian revolutionary era at the beginning of the XX century.

Fiction and Historical Truth in Boris Savinkov’s Memoirs

The article analyzes the literary creativity of one of the leaders of the Socialist Revolutionary Party, Boris Savinkov. The influence of creativity on the reliability of memoirs is investigated. From the standpoint of documentary facts, the objectivity of Savinkov’s memoirs as a historical source is considered. The author explores the reasons that prompted Savinkov to write memoirs. The author investigates the importance attached to the memoirs. The influence of memoirs on his contemporaries is investigated.