Russian exile Alexander Herzen (1812-1870) was one of the most influential progressive journalists in 19th century Europe. With the help of Polish émigrés in London, he published newspapers that were smuggled back to Russia in an effort to speed reforms under Alexander II. Herzen's decision to support the Polish rebellion of 1863 by encouraging Russian soldiers not to follow orders lost him his readership and put him in danger, but he never wavered from the principle that the Polish and Russian peoples were equally deserving of freedom and self-determination.