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The Zhenotdel (), the women's department of the
The Utopianism of the Zhenotdel
''Slavic Review'', ''51''(3), pp. 485-496. {{doi, 10.2307/2500056. * Cox, J. (2019). ''The Women's Revolution: Russia 1905–1917.'' Chicago, IL: Haymarket Books. * Hayden, C. (1976)
The Zhenotdel and the Bolshevik Party
''Russian History'', ''3''(2), pp.150-173. * Massell, G. J. (1974). ''The Surrogate Proletariat: Moslem Women and Revolutionary Strategies in Soviet Central Asia, 1919-1929.'' Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. * Ruthchild, R. G. (2010). ''Equality and Revolution: Women's Rights in the Russian Empire, 1905-1917.'' Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press. * ———. (2010) Women's Suffrage and Revolution in the Russian Empire, 1905-1917. In Offen, K. (Ed.). ''Globalizing Feminisms, 1789-1945''. New York, NY: Routledge. pp. 257-274. * Stites, R. (1976)
Zhenotdel: Bolshevism and Russian Women, 1917-1930
''Russian History'', ''3''(2), pp. 174-193. * Stites, R. (1978). ''The Women's Liberation Movement in Russia: Feminism, Nihilism, and Bolshevism, 1860-1930.'' Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. * Wood, E. (1997). ''The Baba and the Comrade Gender and Politics in Revolutionary Russia.'' Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
Early Bolshevik Work Among Women of the Soviet East
(details the work of Zhenotdel activists) Feminism in the Soviet Union Organizations established in 1919 Organizations established in 1920 Bodies of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Feminist organizations in Russia Women's wings of communist parties
The Zhenotdel (), the women's department of the Central Committee
Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of Communist party, communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party org ...
of the All-Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks)
"Hymn of the Bolshevik Party"
, headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow
, general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first) Mikhail Gorbachev (last)
, founded =
, banned =
, founder = Vladimir Lenin
, newspaper ...
, was the section of the Russian Communist party devoted to women's affairs in the 1920s. It gave women in the Russian Revolution
The Russian Revolutions of 1917 saw the collapse of the Russian Empire, a short-lived provisional government, and the creation of the world's first socialist state under the Bolsheviks. They made explicit commitments to promote the equality of men ...
new opportunities until it was dissolved in 1930.
History
The Zhenotdel was established by twoRussian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
feminist
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
revolutionaries
A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective, to refer to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor.
...
, Alexandra Kollontai
Alexandra Mikhailovna Kollontai (russian: Алекса́ндра Миха́йловна Коллонта́й, née Domontovich, Домонто́вич; – 9 March 1952) was a Russian revolutionary, politician, diplomat and Marxist the ...
and Inessa Armand
Inessa Fyodorovna Armand (born Elisabeth-Inès Stéphane d'Herbenville; 8 May 1874 – 24 September 1920) was a French-Russian communist politician, member of the Bolsheviks and a feminist who spent most of her life in Russia. Armand, being ...
, in 1919. It was devoted to improving the conditions of women's lives throughout the Soviet Union, fighting illiteracy, and educating women about the new marriage, education, and working laws put in place by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
"Hymn of the Bolshevik Party"
, headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow
, general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first) Mikhail Gorbachev (last)
, founded =
, banned =
, founder = Vladimir Lenin
, newspaper ...
. In Soviet Central Asia, the Zhenotdel also spearheaded efforts to improve the lives of Muslim women through literacy and educational campaigns, and through "de-veiling" campaigns.
The Zhenotdel persuaded the Bolsheviks to legalise abortion in Russia, the first country to do so, in November 1920. This was the first time in history that women had the right to free abortions in state hospitals.
The leaders of the Zhenotdel were committed communists, and worked as part of the Soviet state apparatus. Historian Elizabeth Wood has argued that the organization took an active interest in women's problems, and initially served as a conduit for women's issues from the people to the state. The Zhenotdel was shut down in 1930, in accordance with the then-dominant theory among the members of the Zhenotdel that all women's issues in the Soviet Union had been "solved" by the eradication of private property and the nationalization of the means of production.
Leaders
Zhenotdel had five leaders during its 11 years of existence: * 1919−1920:Inessa Armand
Inessa Fyodorovna Armand (born Elisabeth-Inès Stéphane d'Herbenville; 8 May 1874 – 24 September 1920) was a French-Russian communist politician, member of the Bolsheviks and a feminist who spent most of her life in Russia. Armand, being ...
* 1920−1921: Alexandra Kollontai
Alexandra Mikhailovna Kollontai (russian: Алекса́ндра Миха́йловна Коллонта́й, née Domontovich, Домонто́вич; – 9 March 1952) was a Russian revolutionary, politician, diplomat and Marxist the ...
* 1922−1924: Sofia Smidovic
* 1924−1925: Klavdiya Nikolayeva
Klavdiya Ivanovna Nikolayeva (russian: Клавдия Ивановна Николаева; 13 June 1893 – 28 December 1944) was a Russian revolutionary, syndicalist, feminist, Old Bolshevik and Soviet politician.
Early life
The daughter of ...
* 1925−1930: Aleksandra Artyukhina
Alexandra Vasilevna Artyukhina (Russian: Александра Васильевна Артюхина; 6 November 1889 – 7 April 1969) was an early Russian Bolshevik and revolutionary who rose to sit on the Secretariat of the CPSU Central Committee ...
See also
*Zhensovety
The ''zhenskie sovety'' (shortened to ''zhensovety'') were women's councils set up in localities of the Soviet Union after 1958. They were described as "descendants of the Zhenotdel but enjoy less scope and autonomy than did their namesake".
Alth ...
*Kommunistka
''Kommunistka'' (in rus, Коммунистка, p=kəmʊˈnʲistkə, t=Communist Woman) was a communist magazine from the Soviet Union, associated to the Zhenotdel, founded by Inessa Armand and Alexandra Kollontai in 1920.
''Kommunistka'' was pu ...
*Women in the Russian Revolution
The Russian Revolutions of 1917 saw the collapse of the Russian Empire, a short-lived provisional government, and the creation of the world's first socialist state under the Bolsheviks. They made explicit commitments to promote the equality of men ...
*Communist Women's International
The Communist Women's International was launched as an autonomous offshoot of the Communist International in April 1920 for the purpose of advancing communism, communist ideas among women. The Communist Women's International was intended to play ...
*Polina Zhemchuzhina
Polina Semyonovna Zhemchuzhina (born Perl Solomonovna Karpovskaya; 27 February 1897 – 1 April 1970) was a Soviet politician and the wife of the Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov. Zhemchuzhina was the director of the Soviet national ...
*Antifascist Committee of Soviet Women Antifascist Committee of Soviet Women (AKSZh) also known as the Committee of Soviet Women, was a state women's organization in Soviet Russia, founded in 1941. It was renamed to Committee of Soviet Women in 1956.
It was a state organization and a b ...
References
Further reading
* Clements, B. E. (1992)The Utopianism of the Zhenotdel
''Slavic Review'', ''51''(3), pp. 485-496. {{doi, 10.2307/2500056. * Cox, J. (2019). ''The Women's Revolution: Russia 1905–1917.'' Chicago, IL: Haymarket Books. * Hayden, C. (1976)
The Zhenotdel and the Bolshevik Party
''Russian History'', ''3''(2), pp.150-173. * Massell, G. J. (1974). ''The Surrogate Proletariat: Moslem Women and Revolutionary Strategies in Soviet Central Asia, 1919-1929.'' Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. * Ruthchild, R. G. (2010). ''Equality and Revolution: Women's Rights in the Russian Empire, 1905-1917.'' Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press. * ———. (2010) Women's Suffrage and Revolution in the Russian Empire, 1905-1917. In Offen, K. (Ed.). ''Globalizing Feminisms, 1789-1945''. New York, NY: Routledge. pp. 257-274. * Stites, R. (1976)
Zhenotdel: Bolshevism and Russian Women, 1917-1930
''Russian History'', ''3''(2), pp. 174-193. * Stites, R. (1978). ''The Women's Liberation Movement in Russia: Feminism, Nihilism, and Bolshevism, 1860-1930.'' Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. * Wood, E. (1997). ''The Baba and the Comrade Gender and Politics in Revolutionary Russia.'' Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
External links
Early Bolshevik Work Among Women of the Soviet East
(details the work of Zhenotdel activists) Feminism in the Soviet Union Organizations established in 1919 Organizations established in 1920 Bodies of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Feminist organizations in Russia Women's wings of communist parties