21 Facts About Eugen Schauman

In 1904, Eugen Schauman assassinated Nikolai Bobrikov, the Governor-General of Finland.

Eugen Schauman was born in Kharkov, Russia to Swedish-speaking Finnish parents.

Eugen Schauman's brother Rafael was born in 1873, and his sister Sigrid in 1877.

At the age of eight, Eugen Schauman heard that there was a collection going on in Nykarleby, Finland to erect a memorial to the victory over the Russians that had occurred in the 1808 Battle of Jutas in the Finnish War.

Eugen Schauman attended secondary school in Helsinki, Finland while the rest of the family was living in Poland.

Eugen Schauman had poor hearing and this had an effect on his studies.

Nonetheless, Eugen Schauman matriculated at the Nya Svenska Laroverket in 1895; graduated from the University of Helsinki with an upper degree in government studies in 1899; and began his career as a clerk in the senate in 1901.

Eugen Schauman was a temporary employee working as an assistant to the school governing board.

Eugen Schauman observed and experienced the formalization of the controversial policy of Russification firsthand with the February 1899 decree of the February Manifesto.

At first Eugen Schauman acted against the oppression like the other students: joining protests at the Runeberg statue; spreading leaflets calling for the will to battle and hatred towards the Russians; and gathering names for the Great Petition in Uusimaa.

Eugen Schauman organised shipments of weapons from abroad by shipping American rifles to Finland with the help of the Finnish Hunting Association, which were then distributed to students.

Eugen Schauman became personally involved with Russian authorities during the riots in Helsinki connected to the draft strikes on 18 April 1902.

Eugen Schauman was returning from work to his home on Koulukatu, but went to see what was happening on the square.

When one of the Cossacks went for his sabre, Eugen Schauman took his knife and stabbed at his chest.

The Cossack was thrown off his horse and Eugen Schauman escaped to the stairway of the chemistry building of the university.

At first, the plan was to strike against Finnish politicians agreeing with the Russification, but soon the activists, the Kagal organization, and Eugen Schauman decided it was best to strike against the Governor-General Nikolai Bobrikov, who was seen as the leader and main activist of the oppression politics.

Eugen Schauman's body was taken to an unmarked grave in the Malmi cemetery in Helsinki.

Eugen Schauman left a letter in which he stated that he justified his actions as a punishment for Bobrikov's crimes against the people of Finland.

Eugen Schauman addressed the letter to the Tsar and wanted him to pay attention to the problems in the whole of the Russian empire, especially in Poland and the Baltic Sea region.

Eugen Schauman claimed he had acted alone and emphasized that his family was not involved in the assassination.

Eugen Schauman became something of an icon for the resistance to Imperial Russia, and many Finns still consider him a hero.