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Paul Gorguloff

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In this name that follows East Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Timofeyevich and the family name is Gorguloff.
Paul Gorguloff
Павел Горгулов
Police mugshot of Gorguloff, 1932
Born
Pavel Timofeyevich Gorgulov

(1895-06-29)29 June 1895
Labinsk, Kuban Oblast, Russian Empire
Died14 September 1932(1932-09-14) (aged 37)
La Santé Prison, Paris, France
Cause of deathExecution by guillotine
MovementFascism
Criminal statusExecuted
MotiveRevenge for France not providing more support for the White movement during the Russian Civil War
ConvictionMurder
Criminal penaltyDeath

Paul Gorguloff, originally Pavel Timofeyevich Gorgulov (Russian: Павел Тимофеевич Горгулов; 29 June 1895 – 14 September 1932), was a Russian émigré and assassin who shot and fatally wounded the French President Paul Doumer at a book fair at the Hôtel Salomon de Rothschild in Paris on 6 May 1932.

Early life

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Gorguloff was born in Labinskaya, a Cossack stanitsa in the Kuban region of Russia.[1] He was abandoned after birth, with the possibility that his reported birth date (coinciding with the feast day of his namesake) was actually the date he was found. On 31 January 1902, the local ataman, Yakov Dmitrievich Malama, arranged for the boy's adoption by Timofey Nikolaevich Gorgulov, the village chief of Labinskaya,[2] and Varvara Astakhova;[3] the names of his parents were francised to "Timothée Gorgouloff" and "Barbe Astakhoff" in his marriage record.[4] Beginning in 1913, Gorguloff studied medicine at Yekaterinodar military paramedic school and later Moscow University's medical faculty. He served in World War I in which he was badly wounded when grenade shrapnel injured his head, after which he was demobilised and resumed his studies at Rostov State Medical University.[5] In 1916, Gorguloff contracted syphilis.[6]

During the Russian Revolution, he served as a nurse with the White Russian Army against the Bolsheviks, spending time in Kuban and Crimea. By 1921, he reportedly served under Stanisław Bułak-Bałachowicz's army in Minsk and later Warsaw, as a subordinate of Boris Savinkov, before leaving the territories for Czechoslovakia, leaving behind his first wife of four months, fellow medical student Marie Pagorgeloff.[6][7]

Between 1925 and 1930, Gorguloff resided in Czechoslovakia illegally until he received a Nansen passport. He completed his studies at Charles University in 1926 and lived in Přerov and Hodonín for the next two years, performing abortions, which was illegal at the time.[8][6] Gorguloff married twice: Emilienne Nehafilova in 1922 and to Kueta Stepkova in 1927. Each marriage ended in divorce, with both ex-wives citing domestic abuse. To neighbors, he claimed to be the head of several political parties, of which he was the only member, including the "Peasant All-Russian People's Green Party" ("Крестьянской Всероссийской Народной Партии Зеленых") and the "Pan-Cossack Economic Agrarian Federation in Czechoslovakia". He also self-published a magazine, Skif ("Скиф"), based out of Olomouc, writing three issues under the pseudonym "Paul Bred".[9][10][11]

Between 1928 and 1930, Gorguloff lost his medical practice licence in Moravia for medical malpractice, relating to drunkeness, dubious work ethic, his illegal abortion service, which had been linked to several deaths, and accusations of rape by two of his patients. Colleagues of Gorguloff described him as an uneducated charlatan who frequently peddled quack medicine for incurable conditions at exorbitant prices.[6] Facing imminent expulsion from Czechoslovakia, he subsequently arrived in France on 12 July 1930 on a twelve-day travel visa, first with the intention of gaining citizenship through service in the French Foreign Legion, but remained undetected in Paris for the next 18 months. Living in Boulogne-Billancourt, Gorguloff earned an income by acting as a doctor to the city's Russian community, as his Russian and Czechoslovakian diplomas were not recognised. On 18 July 1931, he married Anne-Maria Geng, a Swiss woman from Winterthur, who was pregnant with his child at the time of his trial.[5][12]

French authorities had initially allowed Gorguloff an extension to his visa, but rejected a request for an identity card in February 1931. A second attempt on 15 November while passing through Nice revealed Gorguloff's continued unregistered presence, as well as his fradulent medical practice, with Gorguloff receiving an ultimatum to voluntarily leave France by 30 December or face forcible deportation.[6] He and his wife voluntarily left for Monaco, where Gorguloff lived until 4 May 1932, with Gorguloff regularly crossing the border into France. He obtained Monégasque residency status and an identity certificate, valid until August 1932. By April 1932, Gorguloff had reportedly spent 40,000 franc of his 50,000 franc dowry at a casino in Monte Carlo.[5][7][8][12]

Gorguloff claimed to have planned for the assassinations of several major political leaders across Europe as early as the 1920s. He first planned to kill Vladimir Lenin, but was unable to enter the Soviet Union and discarded the idea entirely upon Lenin's death in 1924. Similarly, Gorguloff could not obtain a visa for Berlin when he wanted to assassinate Paul von Hindenburg in 1930. By his own account, Gorguloff was able to get close to Marcel Rosenberg at the Soviet embassy in Paris, but prevented due to his line of fire being blocked by a large crowd. He also claimed to have encountered Tomáš Masaryk and stood right next to him, but relented after Masaryk smiled at him. Gorguloff had also intended to assassinate French President Gaston Doumergue and the Prime Minister of Japan.[13][14][15]

Ideology

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Gorguloff followed an esoteric set of beliefs revolving around an idealized version of the ancient Scythian culture of the steppes, agrarianism, and ultranationalism.[3] Most knowledge of Gorguloff's ideology stems from his writings when he was in Paris. One of these writings, The National Peasant's, outlines his ideal system of government for Russia: a totalitarian rule under a hyper-militarized Green party. This state would be led by a "green dictator", similar to the Nazi concept of the Führerprinzip. Gorguloff was an emphatic supporter of fascism, and his ideological beliefs are considered an early form of what is known in the modern era as eco-fascism. His last book, which police found when arresting him, was entitled “Memoirs of Dr. Pavel Gorgulov, Supreme Chairman of the Political Party of Russian Fascists, Who Killed the President of the Republic”. Gorgulov was an outspoken Russian supremacist, and believed that all non-Russians and those who didn't adhere to Russian Orthodoxy, especially Jews, should not be citizens. To this end, Gorguloff was a firm believer in the Judeo-Bolshevik conspiracy theory. Despite his fervent anti-socialism, he despised both monarchism and Free-Market capitalism, which he viewed as anti-peasant.[3] In much of his poetry, he reminisces about the "wild" and "barbarian" Russia, which he believes to be the successor of Scythian civilization. Gorguloff believed it was Russia's duty as the torch bearer of "primitive spirituality" to defeat western civilization, which he saw as decadent and modern, as opposed to Russia's traditional and agrarian nature.[3]

Assassination of Paul Doumer

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Main article: fr:Assassinat de Paul Doumer

On 6 May 1932, a book fair was being held at the Hôtel Salomon de Rothschild in Paris, and the President of France, Paul Doumer, was present.

Gorguloff arrived at the hotel approximately an hour before Doumer, under the false identity of an author named "Paul Brède". Carrying a concealed Browning FN Model 1910 gun, Gorguloff visited several book stands, being noted for his nervous demeanor and foreign accent. He then approached the President from behind, pulled out his gun and fired three shots. Two of them hit the President, one in the back of the head and the other in the right armpit. One of the authors at the exhibition, Claude Farrère, managed to wrestle with Gorguloff until the police arrived. Doumer was rushed to the Beaujon Hospital in Paris but died the next day.

Gorguloff (standing) during his trial in Paris, 1932

Gorguloff was arrested and while in custody, he wrote a confession letter on 9 May 1932, stating that the assassination was a form of protest against the difficulties faced by self-exiled White Russians in Europe and the United States, and against France's positive relationship with other Western nations and the Soviet Union. Private writings found in his apartment, which was filled with material related to his "green party", showed that Gorguloff believed France had caused the spread of "Judeo-Bolshevism" within Russia and that he was destined to bring "holy vengeance". Within the same notes, Gorguloff claimed responsibility for acts of "clandestine terror", including a 1921 train derailment in Břeclav, multiple assassination attempts on Czechoslovakia's founder Tomáš Masaryk, the serial poison murder of pregnant women, and even the kidnapping of the Lindbergh Baby, which are largely dismissed as products of Gorguloff's fantasy.[6]

Gorguloff's trial began at the Seine Court of Assizes on 25 July 1932. His defence, supported by the testimony of former acquaintances, characterised Gorguloff as a delusional narcissist. One former associate, a self-described inventor, stated that Gorguloff had once asked him to be shot to the moon with a rocket, saying that he "detest[s] this earth". Gorguloff denied being mentally ill, attributing his behaviour to neurasthenia, and rejecting the theory that his syphilis diagnosis affected his judgement. During proceedings, he was noted for his unusual behavior, ranging from frequent interruptions of other people's testimonies to breaking into ritualistic prayer chants. He regularly talked at length of the "enslavement" of Russia and how he blamed France for the state of the world. On the final court day, when asked for a final statement, Gorguloff tore open his shirt and screamed for the court to kill him.[16][17][18]

Despite Gorguloff's self-admitted fascist leanings, once proclaiming his hatred for both communists and tsarists, the court's prosecution, along with the Democratic Republican Alliance and its allies, which included former president Alexandre Millerand and incumbent Prime Minister André Tardieu, alleged that he was a communist agent of the Soviet secret police. Conversely, the French Communist Party and other left-wing parties claimed that the assassination was a false flag operation organised by Tardieu to justify a war with the Soviet Union.[6]

Following a two-day trial and 29 minutes of deliberation, the jury rejected the idea that Gorguloff was insane and announced that Gorguloff would receive a death sentence. While Gorguloff welcomed the verdict as his chance to become a martyr,[18] the Human Rights League decried the punishment. On 20 August, the Court of Cassation, France's final appeal court, rejected a defence of insanity by Gorguloff's attornies. On 14 September 1932, Gorguloff was executed at La Santé Prison in Paris by guillotine. His last words were "Россия, моя страна!" ("Russia, my country!"). He was buried at Ivry Cemetery.

The gun used in the assassination is now in the Musée des Collections Historiques de la Préfecture de Police in Paris.

References

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  1. ^ "Дом-музей Марины Цветаевой - Биографический словарь РОССИЙСКОЕ ЗАРУБЕЖЬЕ ВО ФРАНЦИИ". dommuseum.ru. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  2. ^ Aleksandr Lazko. Человек из бессонницы Ф. М. // «Труд», (24 January 2002)
  3. ^ a b c d Kudri︠a︡vt︠s︡ev, Sergeĭ (1999). Variant Gorgulova : roman iz gazet. Moskva: Gilei︠a︡. ISBN 5-87987-012-X. OCLC 43722720.
  4. ^ Registre d'état civil de Boulogne-Billancourt (1931), Archives municipales de Boulogne-Billancourt.
  5. ^ a b c Janouin-Benanti, Serge (2016). Les médecins criminels : Dr Petiot et Cie (in French). ISBN 979-1095826637.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Millington, Chris (26 September 2023). The Invention of Terrorism in France, 1904-1939. ISBN 978-1503636767.
  7. ^ a b Chumachenko, V.K. (2002). Жизнь и творчество писателя-террориста Павла Горгулова (in Russian).
  8. ^ a b Accoce, Pierre (31 December 1998). Ces assassins qui ont voulu changer l'Histoire (in French). ISBN 978-2259240352.
  9. ^ Kuznetsov, Vyacheslav (31 July 2020). Верхнеудинск. 1930—1934. История города Верхнеудинска в первой половине 1930-х годов (in Russian). ISBN 978-5042724121.
  10. ^ Побережье (1998), Vol 6; p.211
  11. ^ Sencha, Viktor (18 January 2021). Марина Цветаева. Рябина – судьбина горькая (in Russian). ISBN 978-5043065209.
  12. ^ a b Wrightson, Graham (14 August 2023). Terrorism Through the Ages. ISBN 978-9004548466.
  13. ^ Kubeev, Mikhail (20 May 2013). 100 великих криминальных историй (in Russian). ISBN 978-5444470480.
  14. ^ Haynal, André; Molnár, Miklós; de Puymège, Gérard (1983). Fanaticism: A Historical and Psychoanalytical Study.
  15. ^ Cottrell, Robert C. (19 December 2024). Revolution, Counterrevolution and Assassination Through World War II: A Global History. ISBN 978-1476696652.
  16. ^ Galina Kuznetsova. Grasse-Paris-Stockholm (from a diary) // Airways, Almanac IV, New York, 1965, p. 79
  17. ^ "GORGULOFF INSANE ?". The Strait Times. 25 August 1932. p. 11.
  18. ^ a b "FRANCE: Glad Madman". TIME. 8 August 1932.
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