At St. Petersburg, where he studied medicine, the socialistic enthusiasm which then carried away all the youth in Russia had decided him to learn a manual trade, that of a mechanic, so that he could mix with the people, in order to know them and help them as a brother.
A Saint-Pétersbourg, ou il faisait sa médecine, la passion socialiste qui emportait alors toute la jeunesse russe l'avait décidé a apprendre un métier manuel, celui de mécanicien, pour se meler au peuple, pour le connaître et l'aider en frere.