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Nikolay Gavrilovich in History

Abstract: Nechaev is a famous Russian revolutionary, nihilist and anarchist in the late 19th century. Despite his short life, his extreme and radical thought and acts exerted tremendous impact on Russian revolutionaries. Nechaev’s Catechism of a Revolutionist played an indispensable role in the radical Russian revolution and his character was inextricably associated with the overall nature of the Russian revolution. A review of his life thus enables us to shed light on the nature of the revolution. 


Key words: Nechaev, Catechism of a Revolutionist, nihilist


Dong Xiao is a Professor at School of Liberal Arts, Nanjing University, specializing in Russian literature and literary relationships between China and Russia. He  recently published Utopia and anti-utopia: History of Soviet Literature(2010).