Ivan Lvovich Blok, the governor of both Grodno and Samara, was assassinated by a Socialist-Revolutionary terrorist in 1906. He was known for his firm suppression of anti-government activities and peasant revolts, which ultimately led to his death sentence by the Socialist-Revolutionary Party.
The assassination took place on the evening of July 21, 1906, when Grigory Frolov, a member of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party’s combat team, threw a bomb under Blok’s carriage as it turned onto Voznesenskaya Street in Samara. The explosion was so powerful that it shattered windows in nearby buildings and left Blok’s body disfigured.
Born in St. Petersburg in 1858, Ivan Lvovich Blok had a distinguished career in public service, holding various positions in the Ministry of Justice and serving as chairman of several district congresses and zemstvo assemblies. Before becoming the governor of Samara, he served as vice-governor in Ufa and Bessarabia, and as governor of Grodno. His appointment as governor of Samara came just six months before his assassination, during a turbulent period of the First Russian Revolution.
The investigation into Blok’s murder revealed the involvement of several members of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party’s combat team. Grigory Frolov was apprehended near the scene of the explosion, and other accomplices were later arrested in a safe house containing weapons and lists of potential targets. Despite initially denying involvement, Frolov eventually confessed to the murder.
The trial of the accused terrorists took place in February 1907. While Antonina Kruglova, the landlady of the safe house, was acquitted, Slepushin, Yakovlev, and Dmitriev received various terms of settlement in Siberia. Frolov was sentenced to death, but his execution was commuted to twenty years of hard labor.
Tragedy struck the Blok family again when Ivan Lvovich’s eldest son, Ivan, committed suicide in protest of his father’s death. The family left Samara shortly after, and Ivan Lvovich was buried in Ufa. Vice-Governor Ivan Frantsevich Koshko, who was to become the next victim of the terrorists, survived the assassination attempt.