Peter Vasilevich Verigin

Infobox Person
name = Peter Vasilevich Verigin


image_size = 200px
caption =
birth_date = birth date|1859|7|11|mf=y
birth_place = Slavyanka, Azerbaijan
death_date = death date and age|1924|10|29|1859|6|29|mf=y
death_place = Kettle Valley Railway near Farron, British Columbia, Canada
death_cause = in an explosion while traveling on Canadian Pacific Railway
resting_place = Brilliant, near Castlegar, British Columbia
resting_place_coordinates =
residence =
education =
occupation = Spiritual leader of the Doukhobors
religion = Christian (Doukhobor)
spouse = (1) Evdokia Georgievna Verigina (neé Kotelnikova);
(2) Anastasia F. Golubova (also spelt Holuboff) (1885-1965)
parents = Vasily Verigin and Anastasia V. Verigina (1817-1905) [ [http://www.doukhobor.org/Cemetery-Otradnoe.htm Otradnoye Cemetery] (Doukhobor Genealogy Wesbsite)]
children = Peter Petrovich Verigin
nationality = Russian
term = 1887-1924
predecessor = Lukerya Vasilyevna Kalmykova (Gubanova)
successor = Peter Petrovich Verigin

Peter Vasilevich Verigin ( _ru. Пётр Васильевич Веригин) often known as Peter "Lordly" Verigin (OldStyleDate|July 12|1859|June 29 - October 29, 1924) was a Russian philosopher and activist and perhaps the most well-known leader and preacher of the Doukhobors.

Biography

In Transcaucasia

Peter Vasilevich Verigin was born on OldStyleDate|July 11|1859|June 29, in the village of Slavyanka in Elisabethpol Governorate [http://www.erta-tcrg.org/groupes/doukhoborshisto.htm Brève histoire des Doukhobors au Canada] fr icon] of Russian Empire. The village, located in the north-west of what is today the Republic of Azerbaijan, was one of the settlements founded by the Doukhobors, a large sect of communally living peasants, exiled to the Transcaucasia from Ukraine and southern Russia in the 1840s. J. Kalmakoff, [http://www.doukhobor.org/Maps.htm Doukhobor Historical Maps] , with maps of settlements [http://www.doukhobor.org/Azerbaijan.gifin Azerbaijan] and [http://www.doukhobor.org/Georgia.gifGeorgia] ] His father, Vasily Verigin, was an illiterate, but reportedly rich peasant, who, once elected a village headman, "showed himself a real despot"Vasily Nikolaevich Pozdnyakov, [http://www.doukhobor.org/Pozdnyakov.htm "Story of a Spiritual Upheaval"] Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, 1908. (Doukhobor Genealogy Website)]

June 29 happens to be the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul. Although the Doukhobors don't venerate saints "per se", this day - often known as St. Peter's Day ( _ru. Петров день) is still a traditional day of celebration, and thus it may have been the case that young Verigin was named after St. Peter.Koozma J. Tarasoff, [http://www.doukhobor.org/Peace-Day.htm The Doukhobor Peace Day] (Doukhobor Genealogy Website)]

Peter was one of seven brothers. His four older brothers did not study anything at all, but Peter and two other brothers, Vasily and Grigory, were home-schooled, at least to the extent of learning to read and write. There were no formal schools in Doukhobor villages at the time.

At quite a young age, Peter Verigin married Evdokia Georgievna Kotelnikova. In 1882, soon after his marriage, while his wife was expecting their first child (Peter P. Verigin), he started working as a secretary and administrative assistant for the leader of the Transcaucasian Doukhobors, Lukerya Vasilyevna Gubanova (? - December 15, 1886; _ru. Лукерья Васильевна Губанова). Lukerya Gubanovawas the widow of the community's previous leader, Peter Kalmykov and was also known as Kalmykova, by her late husband's surname.Daniel H. Shubin, "A History of Russian Christianity". Volume III, pages 141-148. Algora Publishing, 2006. ISBN 0875864252 [http://books.google.com/books?id=W7h-RhKG2Q4C On Google Books] ]

The Kalmykov dynasty resided in the village of Gorelovka, one of Doukhobor communities in Georgia (shown on one of J.J. Kalmakoff's maps.), in the "Sirotsky Dom" ( _ru. Сиротский дом), or "The Orphanage" - the facility serving as the Doukhobor headquarter, as well as, indeed, home for orphans and the aged. Hedwig Lohm, "Dukhobors in Georgia: A Study of the Issue of Land Ownership and Inter-Ethnic Relations in Ninotsminda rayon (Samtskhe-Javakheti)". November 2006. Available in [http://www.ecmi.de/download/working_paper_35_en.pdf English] and [http://www.ecmi.de/download/working_paper_35_rus.pdf Russian] ] Lukerya was respected by the provincial authorities, who had to cooperate with the Doukhobors on various matters. While working for her and living at her residence, [http://www.doukhobor.org/Reibin.htm (Doukhobor Genealogy Website)] Verigin received an extensive religious education, and was prepared by childless Lukerya to become her successor as the leader of the Doukhobors. He became acquainted with the Doukhobor ideas of administration - rejecting secular government. The Doukhobors rejected the holiness of Jesus Christ and the Bible, and were naturally pacifists and conscientous objectors who refused to participate in wars and battles.

The death of "Queen Lukerya" in 1886 was followed by a leadership crisis. However, only part of the community ("the Large Party"; _ru. Большая сторона) accepted her designated successor, Peter Verigin, as the leader; others, known as "the Small Party" (Малая сторона), sided with Lukerya's brother Michael Gubanov and the village elder Aleksei Zubkov.

While the Large Party was a majority, the Small Party had the support of the older members of the community and the local authorities. So on January 26, 1887, at the community service where the new leader was to be acclaimed, the police walked in and took Verigin away. He was to spend the next 16 years in government custody. Still, the Large Party Doukhobors maintained contact with him and continued to consider him their spiritual leader. [ [http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/verigin_peter_1859-1924.html Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan] ]

Northern exile

While in exile, Verigin got quite a tour of Russian North. He was first sent to Shenkursk, in Arkhangelsk Governorate (now Arkhangelsk Oblast), in the Russia's north, arriving there in October 1887. In the summer 1890, he was transferred to Kola, on the Barents Sea. It was then Russia's northernmost town, as Murmansk and Polyarny were to be built yet. In November 1894, he left Kola for Obdorsk (now Salekhard) in the north-western Siberia.

In Shenkursk, Verigin, along with several exiled Doukhobor elders, shared two houses between them. When this small band of Doukhobor exiles was visited by Peter Verigin's brother, Grigory in September 1888, he was somewhat surprised and impressed by their complete vegetarianism, as Grigory's family back in South Caucasus was still eating meat. [ [http://www.doukhobor.org/Grigory-Verigin.htm Grigory Verigin: My Trip to Shenkursk and My Communal Life There] . A chapter from Grigory Vasilyevich Verigin, "Ne v Sile Bog, a v Pravde" ("The God is not in the Force, but in Truth"). Paris, Dreyfus & Charpentier, 1935. (Doukhobor Genealogy Website)]

In November 1894, as he was being transferred from Kola to Obdorsk, Verigin wrote a message to the Doukhobors, asking them to obey God's commandment, "Thou shalt not kill", destroy their weapons, and refuse military service. His message was taken to the Caucasus by his brothers Grigory and Vasily, who spread it throughout the Doukhobor communities.

Soon, the confrontation between pro-Verigin Pacifist Doukhobors ("the Large Party") and the government keen on drafting their youth came to head. On Easter Sunday 1895, eleven Doukhobor conscripts refused to do military training. As days went on, more conscripts laid down their arms and refused further service. Reservists were returning their registration papers to the draft boards. Finally, in the night of June 28-29 (July 10-11 New Style), 1895, - the night before St. Peter's Day, and, incidentally, Verigin's birthday - the Large-Party Doukhobors of Transcaucaia assembled in three villages to burn the weapons they owned, in the event remembered ever since as "the Burning of the Arms".

Arrests and beatings by government's Cossacks followed. Soon, Cossacks were billeted in many of the Doukhobors' houses, and their original inhabitants were dispersed through remote villages in the region.John Ashworth, [http://www.doukhobor.org/Spiritual-Origins.htm Doukhobortsy and Religious Persecution in Russia] , 1900 (Doukhobor Genealogy Website)]

The exodus

Horrified at the plight of his followers, in August 1896 Verigin wrote to Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna, the wife of Nicholas, making a number of proposals to resolve the conflict, such as the resettlement of the Large-Party Doukhobors to some remote province of Russia (assuming that an exemption from military service could still be granted), or emigration to Britain or Canada. Leo Tolstoy and his associates addressed Russian and international public with letters and articles about the persecution of the Doukhobors.

In 1898, an agreement was reached with the Czar's Minister of the Interior, Ivan Nikolayevich Durnovo, to allow the Doukhobors leave for Canada. Between 1898 and 1899 around 7,500 Doukhobors from Transcaucasia did so. Of them, some 3,300 were the members of the Large Party; the rest belonged to the Small and the Middle Parties. Among them was Verigin's mother, Anastasia Verigina, around 80 years of age at the time. [ [http://www.lib.sfu.ca/cgi-bin/edocs/Doukhobor-Collection?Display=148 Report of Royal Commission on matters relating to the sect of Doukhobors in the province of British Columbia, 1912] , p. 16]

Smaller numbers of Doukhobors, directly from Transcaucasia or from various places of exile, continued moving to Canada in the years to follow.

In the fall of 1902, after 16 years in exile, Verigin was released from Obdorsk. He visited Leo Tolstoy in October, [Х. Н. АБРИКОСОВ. ДВЕНАДЦАТЬ ЛЕТ ОКОЛО ТОЛСТОГО. (Kh. N. Abrikosov, "Twelve Years near Tolstoy") ru icon. Abrikosov mentions Verigin visiting Tolstoy on the way from Obdorsk to Canada in October 1902.] and joined his people in Yorkton, in present day Saskatchewan, in December 1902.

Verigin was to visit Russia again, only once. He came in 1906, leading a delegation of 6 Doukhobors, to investigate a possibility of the return of the Doukhobors to Russia, now that, as a result of Russian Revolution (1905), religious tolerance has been legislated. Verigin's delegation met with Stolypin and other ministers, who made an offer of land in the Altai (south-western Siberia) and an exemption from the conscription. Although the offer was personally confirmed by Nicholas II, Verigin felt that, no matter what, the Doukhobors' situation in Russia would not be as secure as in Canada. In March 1907 his delegation went back to Canada.

In Canada

Verigin established his first Canadian residence at the Doukhobor village of Poterpevshie ( _ru. Потерпевшие, 'The Victims', or perhaps 'The Survivors'), some 15 km northwest of Kamsack, Saskatchewan. On the joyful occasion of reuniting with their leader, the villagers renamed the place Otradnoye ( _ru. Отрадное, 'the place of rejoicing'). Otradnoye continued to be Verigin's headquarters until 1904 or 1905 [http://www.doukhobor.org/pn-details.html?rec=141 Otradnoye] (Doukhobor Genealogy Website)] The nearby village of Nadezhda was the site of annual general meetings of the Doukhobor community chaired by him.

When the new Canadian Northern Railway line crossed the Doukhobor reserve in 1904 some 10 km south of Otradnoye, a small station named after the Doukhobor leader (initially, "Veregin Siding", and after 1908, Veregin Station) was built there around 1904 to serve the needs of the Doukhobor community of the area. A village, also named Veregin (sometimes spelled "Verigin", at least on Verigin's own CCUB letterhead) was built next to the station, and Veregin's headquarters was shifted there. [ [http://www.doukhobor.org/pn-details.html?rec=166 Village of Veregin] (Doukhobor Genealogy Website)]

In 1905, the exiled Doukhobors rejected the newly-enforced requirements of Dominion Lands Act which attempted to register their communal lands under individual ownership and rebelled against the request. Following this in 1907 the communal land system was abolished and in 1908 Verigin led around 6,000 of his group (Christian Community of Universal Brotherhood, CCUB) to British Columbia. CCUB still continued to own some properties and industrial facilities in Saskatchewan, and its headquarter remained in Veregin for some years to come.

Verigin had another residence built for himself near Grand Forks, British Columbia, spending the rest of his life sharing his time between the two provinces.

Verigin's Death

Verigin was killed in a still-unsolved Canadian Pacific Railway train explosion on October 29, 1924 on the Kettle Valley Railway line near Farron, between Castlegar and Grand Forks, British Columbia, which also killed his 17 year-old female companion and a member of the provincial legislature. The government initially (during investigation) had stated the crime was perpetrated by people within the Doukhobor community, while the Doukhobors suspected Canadian government involvement. To date, it is still unknown who is responsible for the bombing. [ [http://www.canadianmysteries.ca/sites/verigin/home/indexen.html "Explosion on the Kettle Valley Line: The Death of Peter Verigin", Great Unsolved Mysteries in Canadian History website] ]

Verigin's grave is located near Brilliant, a historically Doukhobor village outside Castlegar, British Columbia. [Larry Hannant, [http://www.doukhobor.org/Hannant.htm "The Mysterious Death of Peter Verigin". "The Beaver", November 2004, Vol. 84:5 (Doukhobor Genealogy Website)]

uccessors

After the death of Peter V. Verigin in 1924, the majority of the community Doukhobors proclaimed his son Peter P. Verigin, who was still in the USSR, as his successor. However, several hundred Doukhobors recognized P.V. Verigin's widow Anastasia F. Golubova (1885-1965; also spelt Holuboff), who had been Verigin's common-law wife for some 20 years, as their leader.

In 1926 Anastasia's followers split from CCUB, forming a breakaway organization called "The Lordly Christian Community of Christian Brotherhood". They left British Columbia for Alberta, where the set up their own village at Shouldice, near Arrowwood, Alberta, which existed until 1943. [ [http://www.doukhobor.org/Anastasia.htm Pacifism and Anastasia's Doukhobor Village] (Doukhobor Genealogy Website)]

In the meantime, Peter P. Verigin arrived from the USSR and assumed the leadership of CCUB in 1928.After the bankruptcy of CCUB, he organized USCC (Union of Spiritual Communities of Christ) in 1938.

When Peter P. Verigin died in 1939, the Community Doukhobors proclaimed his son (and P.V.Verigin's grandson) Peter P. Verigin II as their new spiritual leader. But as the latter was in Soviet prisons at the time, it was Peter P. Verigin's grandson (and Peter V. Verigin's great-grandson), the young John J. Verigin who became the de facto leader of USCC. [ [http://www.iskra.ca/canada.htm Iskra: Life in Canada] ]

Published works by Verigin

* "Pisʹma dukhoborcheskago rukovoditeli︠a︡ Petra Vasilʹevicha Verigina" (Letters of the Doukhobor Leader Peter Vasilievich Verigin), published by Anna Chertkov, 1901. No ISBN. [http://books.google.com/books?id=hIUxAAAAMAAJ Book info on Google Books]

References