Mark Natanson,
the son of a Jewish
merchant,
was born in Vilna, Russia, in 1850. He became
a medical student in St. Petersburg but soon became involved in the
reform movement. In 1869 he was arrested during a protest demonstration
but was released after a brief imprisonment.
Arrested
again in 1870 and 1871, he was exiled to Siberia.
He escaped and returned to St. Petersburg where he was instrumental
in establishing the secret society, Land and
Liberty, in 1876. The group demanded that the Russian Empire should
be dissolved. It also believed that two thirds of the land should
be transferred to the peasants where it would be organized in self-governing
communes. It remained a small group and at its peak only had around
200 members.
Natanson
was arrested in 1877 and was once again exiled to Siberia. This time
he remained in captivity until 1890. On his release he remained active
in revolutionary politics and in 1894 was arrested and sent to Siberia
where he was held until 1903.
On his
release he left Russia and lived in Europe. He continued be active
in politics and was a member of the Central Committee of the Socialist
Revolutionaries.
Natanson
returned to Russia after the February Revolution.
He was now a member of the Left SRs and attempted to convince Vladimir
Lenin not
to ban opposition political parties. When he failed he left Russia
and went to live in Switzerland. Mark Natanson died in 1919.
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