The Revolutionary Youth of Georgii Fedotov

This article delves into George Fedotov’s involvement in the revolutionary struggle; his reasons, motives, and perception of it; as well as the conditions and factors that led to the decision to discontinue his revolutionary activities. The study relies on documents of the local gendarme administration from the State Archives of Saratov Region and private correspondence between G. P. Fedotov and T. Iu. Dmitrieva. Their examination allows for a fresh perspective on his involvement in the revolutionary activities of the Social Democrats in Saratov, shedding light on its existential underpinnings. This research employs the hermeneutics of understanding (Verstehen) as a methodological paradigm to explore George Fedotov’s youth. This approach involves identifying internal motives behind the external events in the life of the subject in question. It considers individual psychological aspects that contributed to the formation of G. P. Fedotov’s personality. The author defines the emerging changes in the personality of G. P. Fedotov as a reorientation of his own fate caused not only by the decline of the revolutionary movement but also by the crisis of his identity. Consequently, crucial moments in his early biography are demonstrated as manifestations of the revision of his identity shaped by the interplay between his personal aspirations and the influences of the social environment, where his closest associates played a significant role.