Editing Aleksandr Ulyanov

{{Short description|Russian revolutionary and activist (1866–1887)}}
{{family name hatnote|Ilyich|Ulyanov|lang=Eastern Slavic}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Aleksandr Ulyanov
| image              = Aleksandr Ulyanov (3x4 cropped).jpg
| image_size         = 
| caption            = Ulyanov in 1887
| birth_date         = {{OldStyleDate|12 April|1866|31 March}}
| birth_place        = [[Nizhny Novgorod]], [[Nizhny Novgorod Governorate]], [[Russian Empire]]
| death_date         = {{OldStyleDate|20 May|1887|8 May}} (aged 21)
| death_place        = [[Shlisselburg]], [[Russian Empire]]
| death_cause        = [[Execution by hanging]]
| occupation         = Revolutionary socialist, political activist, student
| parents            = {{unbulleted list|[[Ilya Ulyanov|Ilya Nikolayevich Ulyanov]]|[[Maria Alexandrovna Ulyanova|Maria Alexandrovna Blank]]}}
| relatives          = {{ubl|[[Vladimir Lenin]] (brother)|[[Anna Ulyanova]] (sister)|[[Dmitry Ilyich Ulyanov]] (brother)|[[Maria Ilyinichna Ulyanova]] (sister)|[[Olga Ilyinichna Ulyanova]] (sister)}}
}}

[[File:Lenin family.jpg|thumb|The Ulyanov family, 1879 (Aleksandr standing in the middle, Vladimir sitting to the right).]]
'''Aleksandr Ilyich Ulyanov''' ({{langx|ru|Алекса́ндр Ильи́ч Улья́нов}}; {{OldStyleDate|12 April|1866|31 March}} – {{OldStyleDate|20 May|1887|8 May}})<ref>{{cite book|last=Clark|first=Ronald|title=Lenin|date=1988|publisher=New York U.a.|page=15}}</ref> was a [[History of Russia (1855–1894)#Revolutionary movements|Russian revolutionary]] and political activist who was executed for planning an assassination against [[Alexander III of Russia]]. He was the elder brother of [[Vladimir Lenin]], the founder of the [[Soviet Union]].

== Early life ==
Ulyanov was born in [[Nizhny Novgorod]], the second child and eldest son of schoolteachers [[Ilya Ulyanov|Ilya Nikolayevich Ulyanov]] and [[Maria Alexandrovna Ulyanova]]. He was often referred to as Sasha, a [[Sasha (name)|common diminutive form of the name Aleksandr]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://historynewsnetwork.org/article/123398|title=Lenin's Brother: An Interview with Philip Pomper|publisher=}}</ref> Through his father, Ulyanov was a member of the [[Russian nobility]].

He graduated with honors from the Classical Gymnasium of [[Ulyanovsk|Simbirsk]] in 1883 and later attended [[Saint Petersburg Imperial University]], where he majored in [[Natural science|Natural Sciences]] and earned a degree in [[zoology]]. While at university, he participated in illegal meetings and demonstrations, often handing out pamphlets and making speeches to students and workers.

== Revolutionary ==
In 1886 Ulyanov became a member of the "[[terrorism|terrorist]] faction", which was part of the [[Narodnaya Volya]] (''People's Will'') party. He was one of the authors of the party's program. Acknowledging the working class as the "nucleus of the [[socialism|Socialist]] Party", the program affirmed the revolutionary's initiative of fighting autocracy through terrorism.

=== Attempted assassination of Alexander III===
Ulyanov and his comrades conspired to [[assassinate]] [[Alexander III of Russia]]. On 1 March 1887 ([[Julian calendar]]), the day of the sixth anniversary of [[Alexander II of Russia|Alexander II]]'s murder, three party members were arrested in the [[Nevsky Prospect|Nevsky Prospekt]] carrying handmade bombs filled with dynamite and lead pellets poisoned with [[strychnine]]. Police suspected that when Alexander III visited church on the anniversary of his father's assassination, the plotters would throw bombs into the Emperor's carriage. The attempt is known as "The Second First of March".<ref>{{cite book |author=Mark Aleksandrovich Aldanov |title=Lenin |publisher=E. P. Dutton |location=New York |date=1922 |page=4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c8toAAAAMAAJ }}</ref>

Ulyanov, who served as both the main ideologist of the group as well as the bomb-maker, was later arrested. In court Ulyanov gave a political speech. The conspirators were initially sentenced to death; all but five were then pardoned by Alexander III. Ulyanov was not among those pardoned. On 8 May, he and his four comrades&nbsp;– [[Pakhomy Andreyushkin]], [[Vasily Generalov]], [[Vasili Osipanov]], and [[Petr Shevyrev]] – were hanged at [[Shlisselburg]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Philip Pomper |title=Lenin's Brother: The Origins of the October Revolution |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |location=New York |date=2010 |isbn=978-0-393-07079-8 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/leninsbrotherori00pomp }}</ref>

Aleksandr's execution drove his younger brother Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (later known as [[Vladimir Lenin]])  into fervent political activity. Before Aleksandr's arrest, Lenin and the family had not known of Aleksander's activism and were comfortably middle class and essentially apolitical, holding no strong feelings for or against the Russian monarchy.<ref>[[Orlando Figes]] (1998). ''[[A People's Tragedy]]: The Russian Revolution 1891-1924''. Penguin, p. 152</ref> Historian James D. White reported that Lenin's introduction to radical politics came only after Aleksandr's death in an attempt to understand the events: "The actions of Lenin and Olga in the period following Sasha’s [Aleksandr's nickname] execution suggest that they had resolved that their brother’s death would not be in vain and that they would serve the cause for which he had sacrificed himself – just as soon as they could discover what that cause had been."<ref>James D. White (2001). ''Lenin: The Practice and Theory of Revolution'', Palgrave, p. 2</ref>

Later in life, Lenin recalled thinking, "No, my brother won't make a revolutionary, I thought at the time. A revolutionary can't give so much time to the study of worms."  Lenin also remembered how his family were shunned by liberal circles in Simbirsk following his brother's arrest.<ref>{{cite book |author=Nadezhda Krupskaya |author-link=Nadezhda Krupskaya |translator=Bernard Isaacs |title=Reminiscences of Lenin |date=1933 |volume=1 |chapter=St. Petersburg, 1893–1898 |url=https://www.marxists.org/archive/krupskaya/works/rol/index.htm |accessdate=2018-12-20}}</ref>

==Legacy==
[[File:4426-1. Oreshek fortress. Memorial plaque to A. Ulyanov.jpg|thumb|Memorial plaque to Aleksandr Ulyanov in the citadel: Oreshek fortress. Shlisselburg, Kirovsky district, Leningrad region]]
A [[minor planet]], [[2112 Ulyanov]], was discovered in 1972 by [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] astronomer [[Tamara Mikhailovna Smirnova]] and named after him.<ref>{{cite book | last = Schmadel | first = Lutz D. | title = Dictionary of Minor Planet Names | pages = 171 | edition = 5th  | year = 2003 | publisher = Springer Verlag | location = New York | isbn = 3-540-00238-3}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://spartacus-educational.com/RUSlenin.htm|title=Lenin|work=Spartacus Educational|access-date=2018-08-01|language=en}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ulyanov, Aleksandr}}
[[Category:1866 births]]
[[Category:1887 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Nizhny Novgorod Governorate]]
[[Category:Narodnaya Volya]]
[[Category:Executed revolutionaries]]
[[Category:People executed by the Russian Empire by hanging]]
[[Category:Revolutionaries from the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:Russian people of Jewish descent]]
[[Category:Family of Vladimir Lenin]]
[[Category:Executed Russian people]]
[[Category:Executed failed assassins]]
[[Category:19th-century executions by the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:Executed people from Nizhny Novgorod Oblast]]
[[Category:Untitled nobility from the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:People from Ulyanovsk]]
[[Category:Prisoners of Shlisselburg fortress]]
[[Category:Prisoners of the Peter and Paul Fortress]]