Decembrist

[dih-sem-brist]

noun

Russian History.

1. a participant in the conspiracy and insurrection against Nicholas I on his accession in December, 1825.

Decembrist

/ dɪˈsɛmbrɪst /

noun

1. Russian history a participant in the unsuccessful revolt against Tsar Nicolas I in Dec 1825

Word History and Origins

Origin of Decembrist¹

1880–85; translation of Russian dekabríst. See December, -ist

Word History and Origins

Origin of Decembrist¹

C19: translation of Russian dekabrist

Example Sentences

Charismatic and earnest, she was adored for her image as a Decembrist’s wife — women who had given up their lives and followed their husbands to exile in Siberia.

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Much of “The Lost Pianos of Siberia” consists of neat summaries of major events in Russian history — the Decembrist uprising, the Gulag — and well-known anecdotes, such as Chekhov’s trip to Sakhalin Island, and the composition and debut of Shostakovich’s “Leningrad” Symphony during World War II. This is not a book for readers already familiar with Russian history.

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This apparent bad luck in fact saved the writer from being arrested for taking part in the Decembrist uprising of 1825 in St Petersburg.

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A century of rebellions, from the Decembrist uprising in 1825 to the revolution of 1905, ensured that a steady supply of political dissidents were carted across the Urals by a progressively more paranoid state.

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Even further back, 1826: Nicholas I, after crushing the Decembrist rebels, invited their exiled supporter, the poet Aleksandr Pushkin, in for a chat.

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