“Another beautiful nihilist…” (1887)

Suspected Nihilists. St. Petersburg, Dec. 9—The woman now on trial for connection with the nihilist conspiracies is a niece of Privy Councilor Illinsky, Director of the Holy Synod. Her name is Olga Ivanowsky. Several high ecclesiastical officials are Involved and startling developments are expected. “Suspected Nihilists,” San Francisco Call 69 no. 10 (December 10, 1890): 1.

IMPRISONED TWENTY YEARS Czar Banishes Desperate Woman Nihilist to Archangel By Associated Press ST. PETERSBURG, Nov. 8.—Mary Figner, who has been confined to the Schlusselburg fortress for twenty years, has been released and banished to Archangel, northern Russia. The woman was condemned to life imprisonment for participating in Nihilist conspiracies. She waved her handkerchief as a signal indicating the approach of Alexander II when he was assassinated here in 1881. As the woman still shows desperate nihilistic sentiments she has now been banished. “Imprisoned Twenty Years,” Los Angeles Herald 32 no. 39 (November 9, 1904): 11.

WHAT ARE “AMERICAN INSTITUTIONS”? I AM sending this across the ocean, to seek information I cannot gain in my own native land. I have enquired of leading journals and been quietly ignored; I have asked eminent literary people and received only looks that questioned my sanity and civilised citizenship; I have interrogated workingmen, and they simply become terrified. I have decided to enquire of a “blasted furriner.” I only want to know—“what are “American institutions”? Or rather, what are the characteristics of American institutions which distinguish them from English, Russian, German, or French institutions? So much seems to depend on […]