Who are the ‘noble bandits’ in Russian literature?

In Romantic literature, the "noble bandit" is a positive hero, rather than a villain. He’s often of noble birth, but glaring social or personal injustice forces him to step outside of the law, becoming a bandit in the name of restoring trampled justice. At the same time, he adheres to an internal code of honor: he does not rob the poor, he protects the weak and he frequently earns the reader’s sympathy,  since his crimes are a challenge to an unjust society, not an expression of greed or cruelty. This archetype also found a place in Russian literature.

Vladimir Dubrovsky (from Alexander Pushkin’s ‘Dubrovsky’)

Vladimir Dubrovsky is the protagonist of Alexander Pushkin’s unfinished novel ‘Dubrovsky’ and the quintessential "noble bandit" of Russian literature. A young Russian nobleman and officer in the early 19th century returns home from the capital only to discover that a wealthy and influential neighbor named Troyekurov has seized his ancestral estate, ruined his family and driven his father to an early grave. Having lost everything, Vladimir becomes the leader of a group of peasant outlaws, yet he targets only the wealthy and the unjust. To remain close to Masha, Troyekurov’s daughter, he secretly infiltrates his enemy’s household in the guise of a French tutor named Deforge, eventually falling in love with her. When Masha is married off against her will to the elderly Prince Vereysky, Dubrovsky attempts to rescue her, but arrives too late. Out of love for Masha, he abandons his quest for revenge against her father, disbands his gang of outlaws and disappears.

Yemelyan Pugachev (Alexander Pushkin, ‘The Captain’s Daughter’)

Beyond being a real historical figure – the leader of an 18th-century peasant uprising – Pugachev is also a character in Pushkin’s novel. Pushkin portrays him not merely as a brutal rebel, but as a complex and contradictory man. While he can be terrifying in his acts of retribution and in war, he is also capable of magnanimity and remembers acts of kindness. Notably, he spares the life of Pyotr Grinev in return for an old hare-fur coat that Grinev had once given him. Pushkin neither idealizes him nor paints him as a one-dimensional villain. He is wise, ironic and possesses a certain folk charm; yet, he is also a tragic figure, fully aware that his chosen path is doomed.

Kudeyar (Nikolai Nekrasov, ‘Who Lives Happily in Russia?’)

In Nekrasov’s poem, Kudeyar is a legendary bandit chieftain, who, in his old age, repents for his past atrocities and becomes a monk to atone for his grave sins. Following the advice of an elder, he is given an unusual task as penance: he must spend many years hacking at the trunk of a massive oak tree with a knife. However, Kudeyar’s sins are only truly absolved when he kills Pan Glukhovsky – a cruel landowner who boasted of tormenting, torturing and hanging his own serfs. At that very moment, the tree miraculously collapses on its own, symbolizing forgiveness from above. 

Captain Kopeikin (Nikolai Gogol, ‘Dead Souls’)

A character from a self-contained novella within Gogol’s poem ‘Dead Souls’. He’s an officer and a veteran of the War of 1812, who returned home disabled – having lost an arm and a leg. Left without means or support, he travels to St. Petersburg to petition the state for the financial assistance he is owed; however, the officials merely promise to "look into the matter" and send him away empty-handed. Driven to desperation by the indifference of the authorities, Kopeikin, according to rumors, becomes the leader of a band of outlaws in the forests of the Ryazan region. He targets only state property, leaving private property untouched.

Nomakh (Sergei Yesenin, ‘The Land of Scoundrels’)

The leader of a rebel gang in the Urals in 1919 – a figure in whom one can easily recognize the historical anarchist Nestor Makhno. A former participant in the revolution, he has become disillusioned with the new regime. Consequently, he retreats into the forests to wage a struggle against the system. Nomakh carries out a raid on a "gold" train. He is a tragic, anarchic rebel, who values ​​freedom above wealth and has no interest in personal gain.