Ivan Ivanovich Sukhinov

Born 1794 (?) in the village of Krasnokamenka, Aleksandriia District, Kherson Province; died Dec. 1 (13), 1828. Decembrist.

Sukhinov, who was of noble origin, fought in the Patriotic War of 1812 and in the foreign campaigns of 1813–14. In 1819 he began service in the Chernigov Infantry Regiment, and in 1825 he became a lieutenant in the Aleksandriia Hussar Regiment. He became close to members of the Society of the United Slavs and to S. I. Murav’ev-Apostol, a member of the Southern Society of Decembrists; Sukhinov was admitted to the Southern Society in September 1825. Together with A. D. Kuz’min, V. N. Solov’ev, and M. A. Shchepillo, he freed Murav’ev-Apostol from arrest and participated in the Chernigov Regiment Uprising. Sukhinov was arrested on Feb. 15, 1826, and received the death sentence, which was commuted to hard labor for life. He was sent to the Zerentui mine of the Nerchinsk plant, where he headed the Zerentui conspiracy of 1828, an attempt to stir up a prisoners’ revolt in order to free all the imprisoned Decembrists. Sukhinov was given away by a traitor and sentenced to be shot. On the eve of his execution, he hanged himself.