Sukhotin, Sergey Mikhailovich

In 1901 - 1906 he studied at the Naval Cadet Corps .

In 1906 - 1911 he studied at the socio-economic department of the University of Lausanne in Switzerland.

In 1911–1912, in the status of a volunteer, he underwent military training at the Life Guards 4th Regiment of the Imperial Surname . In 1912 - the ensign of the stock.

At the beginning of World War I he entered the service of the Life Guards 1 Rifle Regiment of His Majesty . In 1915, he was the commander of the seventh company of the Life Guards of the 1st Infantry of His Majesty the regiment of General V. M. Bezobrazov, a member of the Guards Corps. In 1915, during heavy positional battles on the Northern Front, he was wounded and heavily shell-shocked.

For military merits, he was awarded the orders of St. Anna of the IV degree and St. Vladimir of the IV degree.

After being wounded, he was treated in Petrograd in the military hospital of Princess Z. N. Yusupova .

In May 1916 he married I.A. Goryainova (Eneri), a longtime acquaintance in Yasnaya Polyana, a well-known pianist, student of the composer A.K. Glazunov .

In February 1916 he was evacuated from the front. He entered the reserve ranks of the Main Directorate of the General Staff .

From June 1917 to April 1918 he served in the Main Directorate for Foreign Supply (Glavzagran) of the War Ministry.

From the end of April to June 1918, he was head of the Department of Foreign Metals at the General Directorate for the Supply of Metals (RASMECO) at the Supreme Economic Council .

In November 1918, together with his friend, Prince A. S. Chagadaev - the secretary of RASMECO - he was accused of speculating and bribery in the counter-revolutionary "Case of Responsible Officers of RASMECO" ^[2] . At a meeting of the Revolutionary Tribunal at the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, he was sentenced to be shot, soon replaced by indefinite imprisonment.

The day before the verdict, Irina Enery divorced her husband in absentia and, leaving her daughter, emigrated to France.

S. M. Sukhotin and A. S. Chagadaev were serving their sentences in the Tagan prison , where, with the permission of the authorities, they organized the Great Russian Orchestra of Folk Instruments. February 16, 1921 as part of the orchestra were transferred to forced labor without detention ^[3] .

After his release, S. M. Sukhotin helped Tolstoy organize the Yasnaya Polyana museum .

Since June 9, 1921, the commandant of Yasnaya Polyana .

October 19, 1921 married the granddaughter of L.N. Tolstoy S.A. Tolstoy .

In January 1922 he suffered a stroke . The stepmother T. L. Sukhotina-Tolstaya and mother-in-law O. K. Tolstaya (nee Diterichs ) took care of his care.

In 1925, with the assistance of V.F. Bulgakov and numerous friends and acquaintances, he was sent for treatment to France . F. F. Yusupov took care of his care.

S. A. Tolstaya divorced in absentia from her husband immediately after his departure and married again - to the poet Sergei Yesenin .

After several strokes, died on June 4, 1926 in the hospital of Orly - one of the suburbs of Paris.

Political Opinions

The political views of S. M. Sukhotin of that time are mentioned in his memoirs by Gleb Evgenievich Botkin, the son of the Life Doctor of the Tsar’s family, E. S. Botkin :

“... Sukhotin grabbed the portrait of the Emperor from the table of my father and, pointing to him, continued:

“But I would like to know what He thinks of this?” Well, on His own head. And in me the nobleman will personally wake up only when I see the crowd pull out the King and execute him in the market square!

“So you consider a revolution inevitable?” I remarked.

Sukhotin grinned mysteriously.

- Want a prediction? - he said.

I nodded.

“So, the revolution will begin in February 1917,” he answered ” ^[4] .

Participation in the murder of G. E. Rasputin

On the night of December 16-17, 1916 ( December 30, according to a new style), S. M. Sukhotin, at the invitation of a longtime friend of Prince F. F. Yusupov, took part in the murder of the “old man” G. E. Rasputin , which occurred in the basement of the Yusupov Palace at the sink . Later, Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich , V. M. Purishkevich and S. S. Lazovert joined the conspiracy. In the investigative materials, his surname is missing.

For the first time in the history of the conspiracy, he was mentioned as “Lieutenant S.” in excerpts from V. M. Purishkevich ’s Diary “The Death of Rasputin”, published in Kiev in 1918 ^[5] . His full name was only mentioned in the memoirs of Prince F. F. Yusupov “The End of Rasputin”, published in Paris in 1927 ^[6] .

In the memoirs of a friend of Prince A. S. Chagadayev - Prince P. P. Isheev - “Shards of the Past,” published in New York in 1959 , S. M. Sukhotin is called the murderer of Rasputin :

“... It is generally accepted that so far everyone has written that Rasputin was killed by Purishkevich. In fact, he was shot at and actually killed by Sukhotin. But in order not to let him down, they decided to hide it and keep it a secret, and Purishkevich took over his shots - otherwise he would not be too good. If Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich was exiled to Turkey, what would they do with a simple lieutenant ?? ” ^[7]

Parents

Mikhail Sergeyevich Sukhotin (1850–1914) - deputy of the First State Duma from the Tula province , liberal thinker, son-in-law of L. N. Tolstoy ,: Maria Mikhailovna Sukhotina, nee Bode-Kolycheva (1856–1897), maid of honor of Empress Maria Alexandrovna .

Since 1899, stepson of Tatyana Lvovna Sukhotina-Tolstoy (1864–1950), daughter of L. N. Tolstoy .