Sergei
Zubatov was born in 1863. As a student he was active in revolutionary
politics until being expelled from university.
Zubatov
found work as a manager of a bookshop owned by Alexandra Mikhina.
This enabled him to distribute banned literature to fellow radicals.
In 1883
Zubatov began working as a police spy. Three years later he joined
Okhrana.
As a former revolutionary Zubatov believed he was in a good position
to know how to defeat them.
In 1895
Zubatov was appointed as head of the Moscow section of Okhrana.
He gradually introduced several modern methods of detection including
photographic files, a systematic registration of suspects and a flying
squad to deal with acts of terrorism. Zubatov also trained his in
revolutionary theory and conspiratorial methods.
Zabatov
also used secret agents to set up the Mutual Assistance League of
Workers in the Mechanical Industry. His agents became the leaders
of this trade union and they attempted
to persuade the workers not to make demands for higher wages and better
working conditions. This proved unsuccessful and by 1903 the union
had to be disbanded because its members had began to take part in
strikes.
Vyacheslav
Plehve,
the Minister of the Interior, was angry at the failure of this policy,
and in 1903 he sacked Zabatov and sent him into exile. While in Vladimir,
Zabatov wrote articles that were published in Grazhdanin
(Citizen) where he defended Nicholas II
and his autocratic rule. He also wrote his autobiography, The
Past. Sergei
Zubatov committed
suicide in 1917.
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