Five Sisters: Women Against the Tsar

by Barbara Alpern Engel (Translator, Editor), Clifford N. Rosenthal (Translator, Editor)

Violent movements that opposed the existing political order erupted all over Europe in the course of the 19th century. Nowhere was revolutionary violence more visible and dramatic than in Russia. There, revolutionaries took the lives of dozens of people, most, though not all of them, high officials. Accepting the label “terrorist” as a badge of honor, the revolutionaries insisted upon the morality and justice of their cause, and they were fully prepared to sacrifice their own lives for the sake of it. Unlike most people considered terrorists today, Russian revolutionaries selected their targets carefully, focusing on those whom they regarded as responsible for the oppressive political and social order and mourning unanticipated civilian casualties. The goal: the replacement of the current order by one that would genuinely represent and serve the people.The daring young women who tell their stories in this book shared this goal and participated actively in efforts to realize it. Vera Figner presided over the remnants of the People’s Will after it assassinated Tsar Alexander II. Vera Zasulich’s attempt to assassinate the governor of St. Petersburg made her a heroine to Western European leftists as well as much of the Russian public. Olga Liubatovich belonged to one of the first groups of revolutionary propagandists to take jobs as factory laborers. Praskovia Ivanovskaia became a typesetter for the printing press that presented the movement’s goals to a broader public. Elizaveta Kovalskaia, a peasant by birth, envisioned terror as the means to relieve economic oppression. Along with a new introduction, Barbara Engel and Clifford Rosenthal provide an updated list of suggested readings in this edition of their classic work of translation. Students and specialists of Russian history and women’s studies, as well as general readers, will find these memoirs to be a fascinating record of a tumultuous time.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Russia, Read For School, Womens Studies, Politics, Russian History

212 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

Reviews

[Nicole Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I used this as a primary source when writing my thesis on revolutionary Russian women. Reading about the acts these women accomplished from their own voices is really wonderful. These were some bad ass ladies.

[María Pousa · Rating 4 out of 5]

¡Un libro sobre mujeres en Rusia que no trata sobre las Romanov! ¡Y encima con testimonios en primera persona!
Me ha encantado leer a cinco mujeres que son tan diferentes entre sí a pesar de moverse en los mismos ámbitos, sobre todo porque de cuatro de ellas no sabía ni de su existencia. Hay un enorme trabajo de edición y recuperación de textos detrás de este libro, y se agradece un montón. Muy ameno de leer aunque no seas una experta en este periodo histórico.

[Gavin · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want a book that reads like a set of short spy thrillers, with a little bit of Russian History in the decades leading up to the revolution, this is a great book. If you want to read about real life stories of people living under repression, taking on false identities, running from the police, making daring escapes from Siberian prisons and carrying out revolutionary acts and assassinations, read this book. These short memoirs are a surprisingly thrilling and fascinating peek into the lives of revolutionaries in Tsarist Russia. They were immensely dedicated and intelligent people struggling under a massively repressive regime. They all suffered for their convictions, and we are lucky they survived to tell their stories. Worth reading at least one of the memoirs, even if you don't want to read the entire book.

[Kipler Ludfang · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really awesome look at what it means to be a woman revolutionary (during one of the most epic and sad revolutionary times). This book had the feel of a fast-paced novel even though it was historical! And it touches on relevant social issues today in beautiful autobiographical prose

[Karen Wilke · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like history this is an excellent book about 5 of the women who helped lead the Russian revolution (each for their own interesting reasons). Highly recommend.

[La Central · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Muchas son las ediciones que han surgido con motivo del centenario de la Revolución Rusa, pero pocas, por no decir ninguna, las que se centran en el papel que desempeñaron las mujeres. Cinco mujeres contra el zar reúne cinco relatos autobiográficos de los movimientos políticos surgidos en la Rusia prerrevolucionaria que abren camino a los acontecimientos de 1917.

Fue en la década de los setenta del siglo XIX cuando muchas mujeres empezaron a denunciar la esclavitud a la que estaban sometidas —sujetas a la autoridad absoluta de maridos y padres— y sumaron sus fuerzas al movimiento de liberación del campesinado. El acceso a las instituciones de educación superior fue especialmente importante en su gestación como mujeres revolucionarias. Tanto los cursos de Alarchinsky, el círculo de Fritche en Zürich o las escuelas para mujeres obreras fundadas por Elizaveta Koválskaya constribuyeron a su formación feminista y política. Algunas llegaron a ocupar puestos de mando en los partidos políticos, dirigieron imprentas ilegales, atentaron contra funcionarios y ministros del gobierno, se infiltraron como obreras en las fábricas y vivieron décadas de prisión y exilio en Siberia. Un coraje y una entrega tal llevaron a Vera Figner a participar directamente en el asesinato del mismísimo zar Alejandro II.

Como se señala el prólogo de esta edición: "Escribir deviene un acto necesario. Escribirlo se convierte en la última trinchera del revolucionario frente a los usurpadores de la memoria". Sara Valenzuela

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing. One of the best translations I've read of these memoirs.

[Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I could not enjoy it because I rushed reading it for school

[Xose Garrido · Rating 4 out of 5]

viva Rusia comunista