Interest to the role of the person in history is shown even at the earliest stages of the development of historical science. In the contemporary Russian historiography, it is also possible to note the close attention of researchers to significant personalities. This attention will undoubtedly always be relevant. The authors of this article wanted to draw readers the interest to the figure of Vasily Mikhailovich Vershinin – a Barnaul merchant of the 2nd Guild, who by the will of fate was an active participant in the dramatic events of the Russian revolution of 1917. The restoration of V. M. Vershinin's biography is based on a fairly wide range of sources: clerical materials of city magistrates offices, reference publications, memoirs and memoirs, materials of the periodical press. In 1911, at the age of 34, V. M. Vershinin founded in Barnaul a private newspaper of a liberal direction – “Life of Altai”. The pinnacle of Vershinin's political career was his election as a Deputy of the IV Russian State Duma from the Tomsk province. In the Duma, Vasily Mikhailovich was a member of the labor fraction, was elected a vice-chairman of the Bureau of the fraction, and was close to the leader of the labor faction, Alexander Kerensky. He was a member of the Siberian parliamentary group. After the February revolution of 1917, V. M. Vershinin was a member of the Executive (temporary) Committee of the State Duma for the creation of a Provisional government. Vershinin was one of four deputies of The state Duma who accepted the resignation of Emperor Nicholas II. He organized the exile of the last Tsar to the Siberian City of Tobolsk and the evacuation of members of the Royal family from the Crimea. The fate of Vasily Mikhailovich Vershinin is significant for that era. The son of a poor Vyatka peasant who moved to Siberia and became a Barnaul merchant, managed to significantly expand his father's business and found his own, "to his liking". He belonged to a generation of entrepreneurs who already understood the need for education, valued intellectual work and political freedom. The activity of V. M. Vershinin is an example of how the civilly active part of the merchant class objectively and correctly understood the requirements of the moment. V. M. Vershinin is not only a merchant who respected the interests of his business, but also an entrepreneur who was not afraid to invest his capital in the sphere of education and culture, a socio-political figure in the broad sense of the word.

Goncharov Yuri Mikhailovich, Doctor of Sciences (History), Professor, Department of Russian History, Altai State University, 61, Lenin st., Barnaul, 656049, Russian Federation, e-mail: yuriig@yandex.ru 

Dmitrieva Lidiya Mikhailovna, Doctor of Sciences (Philology), Professor, Head, Department of Russian as a Foreign Language, Altai State University, 61, Lenin st., Barnaul, 656049, Russian Federation, e-mail: dmitrlm@mail.ru

Goncharov Yu.M., Dmitrieva L.M. Vasily Mikhailovich Vershinin – Barnaul Merchant in Russian History. The Bulletin of Irkutsk State University. Series History, 2020, vol. 32, pp. 51-62. https://doi.org/10.26516/2222-9124.2020.32.51 (in Russian)

1. Barnaulskaya gorodskaya Duma. 1877–1996. Sbornik dokumentov i materialov [Barnaul city Duma. 1877–1996. Collection of documents and materials]. Barnaul, Upravlenie arhivnogo dela administracii Altajskogo kraya Publ., 1999, 305 p. (in Russian)
2. Boiovich M.M. Chleny Gosudarstvennoj dumy (Portrety i biografii. Chetvertyj sozyv) [Members of the State Duma (Portraits and biographies. Fourth convocation]. Moscow, Tipographia I. D. Sytina, 1913, 454 p. (in Russian)
3. Vershinin Vasilij Mihajlovich. Tomsk ot A do YA: Kratkaya enciklopediya goroda [Tomsk from A to Z: a brief encyclopedia of the city]. Tomsk, NTL Publ., 2004, pp. 198-199. (in Russian)
4. Delovaya elita staroj Sibiri: istoricheskie ocherki [Business elite of old Siberia: historical essays]. Novosibirsk, Sova Publ., 2005, pp. 38-47. (in Russian)
5. Kerenskij A.F. Rossiya na istoricheskom povorote: Memuary. [Russia in historical turn: the Memoirs]. Moscow, Respublika Publ., 1993, 384 p. (in Russian)
6. Kuznecov A.A. Sibirskie deputaty v Gosudarstvennoj dume, 1906–1914 gg. [Siberian deputies in the State Duma, 1906-1914. Cand. sci. diss. Kaliningrad, 1980, 237 p. (in Russian)
7. Muravlev A.S. Vasilij Vershinin. Altajskaya Pravda [Altayskaya Pravda], 2008, 14 noyabrya. (in Russian)
8. Muravlev A.S. Neizvestnyj Altaj: Nashi ministry. [Unknown Altai: Our Ministers]. Barnaul, Altay dom pechati Publ., 2017, 600 p. (in Russian)
9. Nezabytye mogily: rossijskoe zarubezhie: nekrologi 1917–1997 [Unforgettable graves: Russian abroad: obituaries 1917-1997]. Moscow, Pashkov dom Publ., 1999, vol. 1: A–V, 659 p. (in Russian)
10. Nikolaev A. B. Vershinin Vasilij Mihajlovich. Gosudarstvennaya Duma Rossijskoj imperii: 1906–1917.[ State Duma of the Russian Empire: 1906–1917]. Moscow, ROSPEN Publ., 2008, pp. 86-87. (in Russian)
11. Skubnevskij V.A., Starcev A.V., Goncharov Yu.M. Predprinimateli Altaya. 1861–1917 gg.: Enciklopediya [Entrepreneurs of Altai. 1861–1917: Encyclopedia]. Barnaul, Demidovskij fond Publ., 1996. 112 p. (in Russian)
12. Skubnevskij V.A. Vershinin Vasilij Mihajlovich. Barnaul: Enciklopediya [Barnaul: Encyclopedia]. Barnaul, AGU Publ., 2000, 65 p. (in Russian)
13. Skubnevskij V.A. “Byvshie”: Kupechestvo Barnaula posle 1917 g. [“Former”: Merchants of Barnaul after 1917]. Vestnik Tomskogo universiteta. Istoriya, 2017, no. 48, pp. 88-92. https://doi.org/10.17223/19988613/48/14. (in Russian)
14. Enciklopedicheskij slovar po istorii kupechestva i kommercii Sibiri [Encyclopedia of the history of merchants and Commerce in Siberia]. Vol. 1: A–L, Novosibirsk, Geo Publ., 2011, 450 p. (in Russian)
15. Yakovleva N. A. Zhizn Altaya [Life of The Altai]. Barnaul: Enciklopediya. Barnaul, ASU Publ., 2000. p. 113. (in Russian)