The Radical Female Russian Revolutionists Who Changed History Long Before Pussy Riot

By Anne Skuse

What fascinates me about this story is the tremendous force of these women. From the moment I was introduced, I was hooked.

This is the hidden truth behind the first wave of radical female Russian revolutionists. The growing revolutionary movement accepted women as equals and depended on each other to achieve the new era of politics and culture in Russia; a culture where every citizen had equal rights and the millions of serfs would be liberated. However, the journey to political reform would be paved with the blood of those willing to risk their lives to deliver change.

The extreme wealth of the Russian Monarchy in the 1850s met sharp contrast with the 50 million serfs living in poverty and servitude. The largest country in Europe remained the most resistant to change, which had swept across the Western world during the 19th century. Emerging literature depicting strong young female characters began to infiltrate the fiercely conservative country.

Likewise, novels exploring the radical new ideas of the growing nihilist movement were also influential during a formative time of this generation. Spending their youth under the cloud of oppression and censorship, many young women left their homes in the pursuit to study medicine to better serve their country’s most vulnerable.

It was abroad in Switzerland and Germany where many women were introduced to a radical underworld of political and cultural anarchists. Unlike the characters in their childhood novels, the men and women involved in this circles their lives in the pursuit of equality. In this radical Intelligentsia class, young women practiced complete equality among the sexes. All female circles would eventually join with the men with a united ideal. The only goal was to assassinate the Tzar, and at any cost.

The Tzar represented total corruption and with him eliminated, a new world order would be able to rise. Despite Tzar Alexander II’s attempts to reform the backwards state, the members of The People’s Will were dedicated to his destruction. These women would elude secret police and design homemade explosives. They studied the Tzar’s routes, and detonated his trains. They infiltrated the Tzar’s palace and posed as servants. Seven assassination attempts were made, each one resulting in more members being killed or imprisoned. Their efforts were finally realized on March 1st, 1881 as the Tzar paraded through the crowded, snow-covered streets of St. Petersburgh.

The People’s Will was led by Vera Figner, a stoic and beautiful young women who possessed strength and courage far beyond her 27 years. Her fortitude and leadership guided the group in their final assassination attempt and she would eventually challenge Lenin himself on his interpretation of their political aspirations.

The two bombs that would kill the Tzar were signaled by the wide-eyed Sophia Perovskaya. Her complete fearlessness and determination to liberate Russia allowed her to outwit the secret police and orchestrate his death.

In the years that followed, all remaining members of The People’s Will and any other political threat would be killed or imprisoned. Their actions would send a message to Russian Monarchy that any resistance should be eliminated and any reforms introduced reversed. The Romonovs would no longer tolerate any disobedience from its people.

This tightening grip on society would influence yet another generation of communist groups. Lenin and the Bolsheviks were able to gain popularity and eventually full control over Russia. Lenin’s rise would be solidified by the murder of Tzar Nicholas II and his seven children in 1918. The new Russia would have a very different face under the new imposing Soviet regime.

The existence of these radical women of the 1870s and 1880s created a fascination among the general Russian population. The women were elevated in the eyes of the public and allowed the political movement to gain an altruistic aura around them. Inspired by the characters in the literature of their youth, the female terrorists of the 1870s would inspire a new generation of girls.

Seeking higher education, being politically active, and practicing equality among their male comrades, the new image of the Russian women threatened the new order that would emerge under the Soviets. Far more dangerous than their terrorist actions, was the ideals for which they stood. While the first wave of radical women sit imprisoned or in exile, Lenin and the Soviets would erase their history. He would reverse the strides they had made and display the ideal Soviet woman as meek and obedient.

After being released, Vera Figner would dedicate the rest of her life to writing biographies of her late comrades and the first wave of revolutionaries in Russia. In 1942, as the Nazi army invaded Moscow, 90 year old Vera Figner would refuse to leave her beloved homeland. Throughout her life, Vera stood in the face of extreme adversity, and never backed down. Her life is a true inspiration and one best captured in her memoir published in 1922:

“For new times there are new songs; my book is a song about the past, about things that are over and will never return. But even if my book tells only about the past and brings nothing to the practical life of the present revolutionary movement, there will come a time when it will be needed. The dead are never resurrected, but books are.” (Figner, Vera, Memoirs of a Revolutionist (New York: Greenwood Press, 1968) p104.

I feel that the time Vera spoke of is now. With a new generation of women fighting for equality in the face of extreme political and cultural adversary, we need more female role models. We need strong female voices to stand up and fight for what is right. The ideals Vera and her revolutionaries stood for are ideals we are still fighting for today: equality, opportunity, and freedom. These universal truths are intrinsic to the human spirit.

The lives of these revolutionary women can no longer remain hidden on the shelves. I have written a biography and have been writing a script dedicated to telling the stories of these brave women- the way it deserves to be told. I want to inspire yet another generation with their ideals of equality and freedom. Our generation can resurrect her story and breathe new life into the continuing fight for change.