Local cult of a revolutionary hero: memory of terrorist a m Kuzmin in Petrozavodsk

This article presents the first overview of the history of shaping Alexander Mikhailovich Kuzmin's image in Petrozavodsk. At some stage he became the personification of the revolutionary movement in Karelia. The authors analyze the peculiarities of the revolutionary hero image transformation under the influence of various political and cultural processes. The authors show that the memory of Kuzmin became a resource open for use by various actors, and heterogeneous forces were involved into the process of constructing the terrorist images - i.e. activists of the left parties, the family of the revolutionary, workers of the Aleksandrovsky plant and prominent cultural figures. The history of Kuzmin's image tells about an important element of both revolutionary and Soviet political culture: such reference to the long history of struggle for freedom and a reminder of all the sacrifices was supposed to emphasize the justice and inevitability of the revolution and strengthen the authority of its “leaders”. Discussions on memorializing the Alexander Kuzmin contributed to the formation and consolidation of a specific political culture, which was characterized by the desire to sacralize the revolution, by a cult of sacrifice for the sake of the common cause, and by a belief in rapid changes capable of turning the tide of both Russian and world history.