Stechkin, Sergey Yakovlevich

Sergei Stechkin was born in 1864 in the Tula province in the family of a hereditary nobleman . The genus of the columnar nobles of the Stechkin (Stetskins) has been known since the time of Ivan the Terrible. Father, Yakov Nikolayevich Stechkin, was the owner of the Plutnevo family estate in the Tula province, which he lost in cards. The sons of Yakov Nikolaevich, Nikolai and Sergey, became writers. Stechkin’s brother, Nikolai Yakovlevich Stechkin, became a famous publisher. The Stechkin’s cousin was the famous aircraft designer N.E. Zhukovsky ^[1] .

Sergei Stechkin studied in Moscow at the 5th Moscow classical gymnasium , where his classmate was the famous Sergei Zubatov ^[2] . During his studies at the gymnasium, he became interested in reading illegal literature. He read the works of D.I. Pisarev , N.G. Chernyshevsky , V.V. Bervi-Flerovsky , J. Mill , K. Marx and others. He was provided with illegal literature by Zubatov, who was in charge of the Mikhins library, well-known in Moscow ^[2] . Stechkin maintained friendly relations with him, which he later regretted. Due to unsuccessful studies, he was not allowed to take final exams and left the gymnasium. To complete his education, he externally passed exams at a real school ^[2] .

He entered to study at the Petrovsky Agricultural and Forestry Academy . Studying at the Petrovsky Academy, he became interested in populism and joined the Narodnaya Volya circle ^[3] . Participated in underground revolutionary activities. In 1886 he married the revolutionary nihilist Maria Egorovna Panova. He facilitated the entry into the revolutionary environment of Sergei Zubatov ^[3] , who since 1886 served as a secret officer in the Police Department. In 1887, he was arrested at the direction of Zubatov ^[4] and, together with his wife, was exiled to the city of Kholmogory, Arkhangelsk province . After three years of exile, he settled in the village of Trufanovo, Tula province ^[1] .

Since 1894 he began to collaborate in various newspapers and magazines. While living in Odessa , he posted articles in Southern Review, then began to collaborate in the capital's newspapers. He wrote articles, essays and feuilletons in "News", "Week", " Exchange statements " and other newspapers ^[1] . Having become a famous publicist , he moved to Petersburg , where he lived on Gorokhovaya Street .

Since September 1904, he collaborated in Russkaya Gazeta, where he wrote articles on the working issue under the pseudonym N. Stroyev . In November of that year, he met with the head of the “Assembly of Russian Factory Workers of St. Petersburg” priest Georgy Gapon ^[5] . On January 5, 1905, at the request of Gapon, he took part in writing a draft of the Workers' Petition , which was called the “Resolutions of the Workers on Their Urgent Needs” ^[6] . After the events of January 9, 1905, he was brought to inquest and subjected to interrogations . According to some reports, he helped Gapon compose revolutionary appeals ^[7] .

In 1907, he published the magazine “Relived”, in which he began to print his unfinished autobiography, the first part of which, in particular, gives a retrospective portrait of S. Zubatov, a former schoolmate of Solomin’s gymnasium ^[2] . In 1909 - 1913 he wrote science fiction stories for the magazines “Spark”, “Argus”, “Blue Magazine”, “Flying Almanacs”, “New Magazine for All” and others. Having separated from his first wife, he married his typist in a civil marriage . In 1910 he was once again exiled, this time to the Urals ^[1] . After returning from exile, he was ill a lot and worked only in fits and starts. He managed to prepare for publication a collection of his stories , published in 1913 under the title "Destroyed Towers" ^[8] . I was familiar with A.I. Kuprin, who spoke warmly of him as the initiator of the science fiction genre.

He died on June 15, 1913 in the New Village near St. Petersburg ^{[9] [10]} .

Among the descendants of Sergei Stechkin there were many famous people. The son of Sergey Stechkin B.S. Stechkin became a famous Soviet scientist, academician, creator of the theory of air-rocket engines. His grandson S. B. Stechkin became a famous mathematician, and another grandson I. Ya. Stechkin became a famous designer of small arms, the creator of Stechkin’s pistol .

• N. Stroyev. Historical moment. - SPb. , 1906. - T. 1-2.
• S. Solomin. The destroyed towers. Episodes from the great war between women and men. Stories. - SPb. , 1913. - T. 1-2.
• S. Solomin. The extraordinary adventures of Oscar Daibn and Kondraty the Unlucky. The struggle of the evil and the good on land, at sea, in the air and under water. Story. - SPb. : Light, 1914 .-- 46 p.
• S. Solomin. Under the glass cover. The foundation and death of the Polar Empire. Story. - SPb. : Light, 1914 .-- 66 p.
• Sergey Solomin . The destroyed towers. Stories. - M .: Geleos, 2002 .-- 320 p., 5,000 copies.

• V. Reginin. Silent writer // Argus. - SPb. , 1913. - No. 7 .
• Solomin, S. Ya. / Obituaries // Historical Bulletin. - SPb. , 1913. - No. 8 . - S. 749-750 .
• I.G. Khalymbadzha. Journalist, rebel, science fiction. Pages of life S. Ya. Stechkina // Bibliography. - 1997. - No. 6 . - S. 66–70 .