Ignacy Hryniewiecki
Ignacy Hryniewiecki (Ігнат Грынявіцкі (Ihnat Hryniavicki) in Belarusian; Игнатий Гриневицкий in Russian, or Ignatiy Grinevitskiy; pseudonym Kotik) (August of 1855, or fall of 1856 - 1881), Polish-Russian revolutionary, murderer of Tsar Alexander II of Russia.
Hryniewiecki was a Pole from the lands of former Grand Duchy of Lithuania, then ruled by Imperial Russia in the effect of the Partitions of Poland. Since those areas were to be russified, the suppression of Poles and persecution of all non-Russian cultures were the harshest. It included complete ban on the use of the Polish language in public places, schools and offices. He was born to a minor, empoversihed szlachta family in a small manor near Babrujsk. Although his family spoke Polish, Hryniewiecki was born in Belarus and his name is often rendered Ігнат Грынявіцкі in Belarusian.
In 1875 Hryniewiecki left for Saint Petersburg, where he joined the faculty of mathematics at the local Institute of Technology. Under influence from his teachers and colleagues he quickly got russified. Most probably this was the reason why he was invited to the meetings of Russian revolutionary Narodnaya Volya (People's Will) movement, unlike many of his colleagues of non-Russian descent.
In 1880, Hryniewiecki, Andrei Zhelyabov, Sophia Perovskaya and others were in charge of revolutionary propaganda among students and workers. He was one of the organizers of the "Worker's Gazette" and a type-setter for a clandestine printing-house.
On March 13, 1881 (Julian date: March 1), Hryniewiecki threw a bomb at the Tsar Alexander II, who was passing through Nevsky Prospekt near the Winter Palace. The Tsar was fatally wounded in the explosion and died a few hours afterwards. Hryniewiecki was mortally wounded at the scene as well. The attack may well have been a suicide bombing.
The assassination was aimed at igniting a social revolution. Its members - Nikolai Kibalchich, Sophia Perovskaya, Nikolai Rysakov, Timofei Mikhailov, Andrei Zhelyabov - were arrested and sentenced to death. Gesya Gelfman was sent to Siberia.
The Church of the Savior on Blood was erected on the site of the assassination.