Who invented Russian roulette?

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2025-07-01 13:09:00 | Lifestyle

Who invented Russian roulette?

The deadly dangerous game is often associated with Russian culture, but it is likely a literary invention. The most popular theory is that the origins of the practice date back to an 1840 novel by Russian writer Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov.

In the story “A Hero of Our Time,” the character of Lieutenant Vulich, an officer in the Tsar’s dragoons, accepts a bet to prove that fate does not exist. He then loads a pistol, points it at his gallbladder, and pulls the trigger, but the gun does not fire. Immediately afterward, to prove that the pistol was loaded, he aims and shoots a beret.

However, there is no evidence that this practice was actually used in military circles. The idea of ​​Russian roulette was revived in 1937 in the novel of the same name by Swiss writer Georges Surdez, and it is this version that has largely defined the modern idea of ​​the deadly game.

The story tells of two soldiers of the French Foreign Legion who, to combat boredom, exchange a revolver loaded with a single bullet: each of them, in turn, points it at their own head and pulls the trigger, defying death with each shot. (A2 Televizion)

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