Nadejda Evgenevna Grinfeld (1887–?) was a

Bessarabia Bessarabia (; Gagauz: ''Besarabiya''; Romanian: ''Basarabia''; Ukrainian: ''Бессара́бія'') is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Be ...

n politician.

Biography

Nadejda Grinfeld served as Member of the

Moldovan Parliament The Parliament of the Republic of Moldova is the supreme representative body of the Republic of Moldova, the only state legislative authority, being a unicameral structure composed of 101 elected MPs on lists, for a period of 4 years. Parliamen ...

(1917–1918).

Sfatul Țării ''Sfatul Țării'' ("Council of the Country"; ) was a council that united political, public, cultural, and professional organizations in the greater part of the territory of the Governorate of Bessarabia in the disintegrating Russian Empire, w ...

included only two women,

Elena Alistar Elena Alistar-Romanescu (1 June 1873 – 1955) was a Bessarabian physician and politician who was part of Sfatul Țării from Bessarabia. She was the aunt of poet Magda Isanos. Biography Alistar was born on 1 June 1873 in Vasylivka, Bolhrad R ...

being the other woman member of Sfatul Țării. Nadezhda Evgenevna Grinfeld had joined the Bund in Chişinău in 1903 and except for short periods in prison and emigration was continuously active in

Menshevik The Mensheviks (russian: меньшевики́, from меньшинство 'minority') were one of the three dominant factions in the Russian socialist movement, the others being the Bolsheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries. The factions eme ...

organizations in

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

, and

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. Grinfeld, had already established a reputation as a Bundist speaker in the prerevolutionary period, was the head of a Bundist self-defense group in Odessa during

1905 Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution of 1905,. also known as the First Russian Revolution,. occurred on 22 January 1905, and was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire. The mass unrest was directed again ...

. During 1917, she was a popular speaker at mass meetings in

Petrograd Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

and

Kronstadt Kronstadt (russian: Кроншта́дт, Kronshtadt ), also spelled Kronshtadt, Cronstadt or Kronštádt (from german: link=no, Krone for "crown" and ''Stadt'' for "city") is a Russian port city in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal city of ...

. Elected as a Menshevik representative in the regional assembly of

, ''

'', she supported Bessarabian autonomy in order to counter the influence of the newly-established Bolshevik government in Russia. As the ''Sfatul Țării'' was losing authority over the region and faced an ever increasing influence of the Bolsheviks by early January 1918, the various factions looked out for outside help. Grinfeld, speaking for the Socialist Bloc in the assembly, while acknowledging to the objectives of the local government, protested against the introduction of Romanian troops, warning the government had no way to prevent a permanent occupation. She further requested Ukrainian troops be called in to restore order and suggested sending a Moldovan delegation to the Brest-Litovsk conference, insisting that only the

All-Russian Constituent Assembly The All Russian Constituent Assembly (Всероссийское Учредительное собрание, Vserossiyskoye Uchreditelnoye sobraniye) was a constituent assembly convened in Russia after the October Revolution of 1917. It met fo ...

has the right to ratify a peace treaty. The Romanian Army did eventually intervene in Bessarabia with the collaboration of the nationalist faction in the ''Sfatul Țării'', and Grinfeld was alleged to have been among the MPs allegedly executed by the Romanians for opposing their occupation. According to Iurie Colesnic's book ''Sfatul Tarii: Enciclopedie'', "The Romanian authorities expelled her over the Dniester in the month of January 1918"."Grinfeld, Nadejda E", in Iurie Colesnic, ''Sfatul Tarii: Enciclopedie'' (Chisinau: Editura Museum 1998), p. 173.

Notes

Bibliography

* Colesnic, Iurie, ''Sfatul Tarii: Enciclopedie'' (Chisinau: Editura Museum 1998) * Gheorghe E. Cojocaru, ''Sfatul Țării: itinerar'', Civitas, Chişinău, 1998, *Mihai Taşcă, ''Sfatul Țării şi actualele autorităţi locale'', "

Timpul de dimineaţă ''Timpul'' (Romanian for "The Time") is a literary magazine published in Romania. Originally a political newspaper, it was the official platform of the Conservative Party between 1876 and 1914. The publication is still active (2018) and publishe ...

", no. 114 (849), June 27, 2008 (page 16) * Leopold H. Haimson, Ziva Galili y Garcia, Richard Wortman, The making of three Russian revolutionaries: voices from the Menshevik past, 1987.

External links

Arhiva pentru Sfatul Tarii

Deputaţii Sfatului Ţării şi Lavrenti Beria

Notes

1887 births Politicians from Chișinău People from Kishinyovsky Uyezd Moldovan Jews Bessarabian Jews Mensheviks Bundists Moldovan MPs 1917–1918 Moldovan female MPs People of the Russian Revolution 20th-century women politicians Year of death missing {{Moldova-politician-stub