# Nestor Makhno — My Disillusionment in Russia character guide

> Nestor Makhno in My Disillusionment in Russia by Emma Goldman.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Makhno, the Makhno, the Makhno povstantsi, Nestor

**First appearance:** 0013-xi-a-visit-from-the-ukraine

## Snapshot

The Ukrainian anarchist whose peasant insurgency haunts the narrator's Moscow conversations, known to her through a comrade writing the first truthful book about him.

## Who they are

Makhno never sits across from the narrator; he reaches her through a friend in hiding, a man with a baby asleep in a dreary room who talks in subdued voices about the Ukrainian peasantry and the Makhno movement. That friend knows every phase from personal experience and is writing the book that will finally tell the world the truth about Makhno and the povstantsi. The movement becomes a measure of what the Revolution promised and what the Bolshevik State crushed.

## Relationships

### [Unknown Narrator](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/characters/unknown_narrator)

_friendship_

Nestor Makhno is a fellow anarchist commander and ally, sharing a deep ideological bond and mutual respect with the narrator.

### [Denikin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/characters/denikin)

_rivalry_

Denikin is a White Army general who is a military enemy of Makhno's anarchist forces, representing the counter-revolutionary opposition.

### [Grigoriev](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/characters/grigoriev)

_rivalry_

Grigoriev is a Ukrainian warlord who briefly allies with Makhno but then betrays him, leading to violent conflict.

## In the story

### [II: Petrograd](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/ii-petrograd)

Mentioned by Zorin as a former ally turned counterrevolutionary leading a bandit army in Ukraine.

### [XI: A Visit from the Ukraine](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/xi-a-visit-from-the-ukraine)

Central figure of the Ukrainian peasant rebellion; described as a natural rebel, anarchist leader, and military genius who organized the povstantsi against various counterrevolutionary forces and the Bolsheviks.

### [Kiev](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/xxi-kiev)

Makhno's wife visits the narrator, conveying a message from Makhno and risking discovery by the Bolsheviks.

### [XXIII: Returning to Moscow](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/xxiii-returning-to-moscow)

Posters at Bryansk announce Makhno is again fighting with the Bolsheviks against Wrangel, surprising given previous Soviet portrayals.

### [Back in Petrograd](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/xxiv-back-in-petrograd)

Enters a politico-military agreement with the Bolsheviks to fight Wrangel, securing conditions for anarchist freedoms.

### [Death and Funeral of Peter Kropotkin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/xxvi-death-and-funeral-of-peter-kropotkin)

Makhno, at the time heralded by the Bolsheviks as a terror of counterrevolution, sent food packages to Kropotkin.

### [XXXII: The Socialist Republic Resorts to Deportation](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/xxxii-the-socialist-republic-resorts-to-deportation)

Referenced as leader of the povstantsi; a close friend and counsellor of the anonymous Makhnovist hiding in Moscow.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/characters/nestor_makhno
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/characters