# Peter Kropotkin — My Disillusionment in Russia character guide

> Peter Kropotkin in My Disillusionment in Russia by Emma Goldman.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Peter, Kropotkin, old Peter, Thereafter Kropotkin, Peter Kropotkin Funeral Commission

**First appearance:** 0007-v-meeting-people

## Snapshot

The aged anarchist philosopher who died in a village cottage, mourned by thousands, and whose funeral became a test of what the Bolshevik State would permit.

## Who they are

In two days at his household the narrator learns more of his personal life than in all the years she had known him: the drawings of great merit, the piano he played with unusual ability. He lies on his couch as if peacefully asleep, his face as kindly in death as in life, while the whole village follows his remains to the station. The Anarchist Funeral Commission must beg the Moscow Soviet for printing and transport, and the Cheka refuses to release imprisoned comrades to attend.

## Relationships

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

_friendship_

Peter Kropotkin is a respected elder anarchist and intellectual companion to the narrator, bonded by mutual ideals.

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

_friendship_

Peter Kropotkin is a respected elder anarchist and intellectual companion to the narrator, bonded by mutual ideals.

## In the story

### [Preface to First Volume of American Edition](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/preface-to-first-volume-of-american-edition)

Mentioned as an anarchist who, paradoxically, denied revolutionary tactics and fell into Marxian reasoning during the revolution.

### [V: Meeting People](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/v-meeting-people)

Kropotkin appears aged and worn, criticizes Bolshevik dictatorship for crushing cooperatives and suppressing dissent, and explains his silence due to the Allied blockade and lack of free expression.

### [XIV: Petropavlovsk and Schlüsselburg](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/xiv-petropavlovsk-and-schl-sselburg)

Mentioned among the revolutionary figures who suffered in the Peter-and-Paul Fortress, their spirits now seemingly at rest.

### [Another Visit to Peter Kropotkin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/xvii-another-visit-to-peter-kropotkin)

Appears healthier and more spirited in summer; discusses the Bolsheviks' betrayal of revolutionary ideals, the need for mass participation, and the value of anarcho-syndicalism.

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

Kropotkin dies of pneumonia on February 8, 1921. The chapter describes his personal talents, his hardships under Bolshevik rule, his protests against hostage-taking and suppression of publications, and his profound disillusionment with the revolution.

### [XXVIII: Persecution of Anarchists](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/xxviii-persecution-of-anarchists)

His daughter's former room is rented by the narrator in Moscow.

## Links

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