“Parliamentary duel”: how people’s representatives in the Russian Empire sorted things out
Part I
Conflict between deputies and preparation for a duel “Three weeks ago A.I. Guchkov (a Moscow deputy) insulted Count Uvarov (a deputy from the Saratov province) in the building of the State Duma. A.I. Guchkov called Count Uvarov’s article about the details of the conversation with the Chairman of the Council of Ministers P.A. “a blatant lie.” Stolypin. For three weeks, friends of Uvarov and Guchkov tried to resolve the quarrel peacefully, but the latter refused to apologize. And yesterday, at 2 o’clock in the afternoon, in the outskirts of St. Petersburg a duel took place between the quarreling deputies. On the morning of November 17, A.I. Guchkov arrived at the State Duma, where six different commissions met yesterday from 11 o’clock. As the leader of the Octobrists (note: “Union of October 17″ – one of the leading right-wing political parties of the Russian Empire), Guchkov sat on the budget commission from 11 to 12 o’clock in the Tauride Palace. Count Uvarov at this time was at the opposite end of the city. Together with his daughter, he inspected an exhibition of paintings by young artists in the building of the Academy of Arts. The opponents acted in such a way as to throw off the trace of the watchmen assigned by the administration who were watching them. After all, it was known that the police were ordered to ensure that a duel could not take place. In order to confuse the watchmen, the seconds deliberately spread rumors that Guchkov and Uvarov would go to Vienna for the duel. Meanwhile, several days ago the “conspirators,” that is, the duelists and their friends, decided that the duel would take place on the morning of November 17th. Last Sunday, first second A.I. Guchkova, deputy N.I. Krupensky traveled to the vicinity of Novaya Derevnya and Lakhta to choose a convenient place for the fight. On Monday, a small clearing at the edge of the forest on Lakhta was planned for the duel. Together with P.N. Krupensky visited this place on the third day, a friend of Count Uvarov, deputy N.N. Lviv. The conditions for the duel were drawn up – to shoot once from smoothbore pistols at a distance of 25 steps. The seconds pulled out a pair of Lepage system pistols without front sights, which are difficult to hit the target with. Yesterday, at about 12 noon, a member of the State Council, Count Olsufiev, a second of Count Uvarov, drove up to the Academy of Arts in a car. Count Uvarov was already descending the stairs from the exhibition towards the exit. He kissed his daughter, she crossed her father. Countess Uvarova knew that her father was going to the duel. In a car, Count Uvarov and Count Olsufiev drove to Novaya Derevnya, where they took second second N.N., who was waiting for them. Lvov and went to the place of the duel. Meanwhile, another car with A.I. was driving there. Guchkov, his seconds P.N. Krupensky and Baron Meyendorff. With them was Dr. Fomiliant, the senior doctor of the State Duma. Suddenly the seconds said displeasedly to Guchkov: “We’re being chased…” Guchkov turned pale: “Have the police gotten wind of it and are chasing us?” But it was not the police who pursued Guchkov in a car, but Duma correspondents. Krupensky orders the driver to start the car at full speed in order to gallop away from his pursuers. The chase also adds momentum. The rush of cars continued to reach the New Village. But then the journalists’ luck changed – their wheel came off. The car stops…”
(“Petersburg newspaper”, November 18, 1909)
“ВЧК ОГПУ”
