Nikolay Bauman

Who was Nikolay Bauman?

Nikolai Ernestovich Bauman was a professional Russian revolutionary of the Bolshevik party.

He was born to the owner of a wallpaper and carpentry workshop. He attended the 2nd Kazan Secondary School, but dropped out in the 7th grade because of disagreements with his teachers. From 1891 to 1895 he was a student at the Kazan Veterinary Institute. During his student years he was fascinated by illegal populist and Marxist literature, and participated in various underground workers' groups. After receiving his diploma as a veterinary doctor, Bauman began work at the village оf Novye Burasy in the Saratov Region and dreamt of becoming involved in revolutionary propaganda there. However, being known of by the police, and wishing to achieve broad revolutionary activity, in the fall of 1896 he left for Saint Petersburg. From 1896 to 1897 he worked in Petersburg, serving a term in the "Petersburg Alliance for the Liberation of the Working Class." In 1897 Bauman was arrested and imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress, where he was kept in solitary confinement for 22 months. Astonishingly, he was allowed to read Karl Marx's Das Kapital there.