Stephan
Khalturin,
the son of a peasant, was born in Viatka in 1857. He became a carpenter
and was employed in several factories in St. Petersburg.
Khalturin
became involved in revolutionary politics and joined the terrorist
organization, the People's Will. In 1880 he
managed to find work in the Winter Palace. Allowed to sleep on the
premises, each day he brought packets of dynamite into his room and
concealed it in his bedding.
On 17th February,
1880, Khalturin constructed a mine in the basement of the building
under the dinning-room. The mine went off at half-past six at the
time that the People's Will had calculated
Alexander II would be having his dinner.
However, his main guest, Prince Alexander of Battenburg, had arrived
late and dinner was delayed and the dinning-room was empty. Alexander
was unharmed but sixty-seven people were killed or badly wounded by
the explosion.
Khalturin
moved to Odessa and in March, 1882, he was captured while engaged
in another assassination plot. He was executed a few days later.
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