Sergey Degayev

Sergey Petrovich Degayev (also spelled Degaev; Russian: Серге́й Петрович Дегаев; 1857 in Moscow – 1921 in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania) was a Russian terrorist, an agent of the Okhrana, and the murderer of inspector of secret police Georgy Sudeykin. After emigrating to the United States, Degayev took the name Alexander Pell and became a prominent American mathematician, the founder of school of Engineering at the University of South Dakota. The Dr. Alexander Pell scholarship is named in his honor.

Sergey Degayev was born in Moscow to the family of a military physician, state counsellor Peter Degayev. His maternal grandfather was a prominent Russian writer, Nikolai Polevoy. His father died in the 1860s, and Degayev's mother became the head of the family; she was, for her time, a well-educated woman, whose interests included reading and learning foreign languages. When the court sentenced pregnant revolutionary Gesya Gelfman to death, she tried, unsuccessfully, to adopt the baby, despite a possible conflict with the authorities.

Degayev had three sisters—Marie, Nathalie, and Elizabeth—and a brother Vladimir, who was seven years his junior. While Marie was much older than Sergey, married early and did not play a large role in the life of the family, Nathalie (after marriage Makletsova) and Elizabeth (Liz) were very close to him. Natalie was a musician, while Elizabeth was a poet. Both sisters were involved in the Narodnaya Volya revolutionary movement. Vladimir was also deeply involved with Narodnaya Volya. As the oldest son, Sergey had to provide financial support for the family.

At the age of nine, Sergey entered a Moscow Cadet school. After graduation, Sergey entered the Mikhailovskaya Artillery Academy in Saint Petersburg. He was accused of organizing anti-government underground "circles" in Saint Petersburg and Kronstadt. The accusations were never proven, but in 1879, Degayev was nevertheless expelled from the Academia. He briefly served as a military officer and was discharged from the Army with the rank of Staff captain in the same year.

...
Wikipedia