Aleksandra Sokolovskaya
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upalt=Aleksandra Sokolovskaya, Sokolovskaya in 1902 Aleksandra Lvovna Sokolovskaya (; 1872 – 29 April 1938) was a Russian
Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...
revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates for, a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective to describe something producing a major and sudden impact on society. Definition The term—bot ...
and
Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky,; ; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky'' was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician, and political theorist. He was a key figure ...
's first wife. She died in the Great Purges no earlier than 1938.


Biography


Early life and family (1879–1895)

Sokolovskaya's father, Lev Sokolovsky, was a Narodnik, who encouraged his children to side with the revolutionaries. Aleksandra became a
Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...
as a student at Odessa University. In 1896, she joined a ''narodnik'' group in Nikolaev, organised by a gardener named Franz Shvigovsky, who also recruited the 16 year old Leon Bronstein, who later took the name Trotsky. Sokolovskaya was the only Marxist in the group: all the others were narodniks, including Bronstein, who was "Sokolovskaya's most bitter antagonist"


South Russian Workers' Union

In 1897, Sokolovskaya and her brothers, Ilya and Gregori, founded the in Nikolayev, which Bronstein also joined. By then, Bronstein had converted to Marxism. They recruited about 200 factory and dock workers, before the organisers were arrested in January 1898. Having been moved through several prisons, Sokolovskaya and Bronstein were married – against opposition from his parents – by a Jewish chaplain in Moscow prison in 1900. They were deported together to Ust-Kut in eastern Siberia. Trotsky later wrote:


Exile life

upalt=Trotsky and Aleksandra Sokolovskaya, Sokolovskaya and Trotsky sometime before Trotsky's escape from exile, summer 1902 They had two daughters, Zinaida Volkova (1901–1933) and Nina Nevelson (1902–1928), both of whom predeceased their parents. In his autobiography, Trotsky wrote that when he considered escaping from Siberia (alone, of necessity) in the summer of 1902, despite their younger daughter being only four months old, Sokolovskaya told him "you must", because "duty to the revolution overshadowed everything else for her, personal considerations especially."


Russian revolutions and later

She remained in exile until the 1905 Revolution, when she was briefly free, but she was deported again after its suppression. Their daughters were mostly raised by David and Anna Bronstein, Trotsky's wealthy parents, in Yanovka. She was finally freed by the
February Revolution The February Revolution (), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and sometimes as the March Revolution or February Coup was the first of Russian Revolution, two revolutions which took place in Russia ...
of 1917, after a period of prison and exile stretching over 19 years, and was able to live in
Petrograd Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...
with her daughters, who were now in their teens. She was a founder of Komsomol, in Petrograd, and edited the city's Komsomol newspaper for 16 years. She also worked in the People's Commissariat for Education. She raised her two grandchildren after Nina Nevelson died of tuberculosis in June 1928, soon after her husband was deported as a Trotskyist. She was also an active supporter of the
Left Opposition The Left Opposition () was a faction within the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) from 1923 to 1927 headed '' de facto'' by Leon Trotsky. It was formed by Trotsky to mount a struggle against the perceived bureaucratic degeneration within th ...
. According to the French Trotskyist,
Victor Serge Victor Serge (; born Viktor Lvovich Kibalchich, ; 30 December 1890 – 17 November 1947) was a Belgian-born Russian revolutionary, novelist, poet, historian, journalist, and translator. Originally an anarchist, he joined the Bolsheviks in Janu ...
she "usually took the chair at our meetings. Plump, her white hair over her kindly face, Alexandra Lvovna Bronstein was the last word in common sense and honesty." Serge claimed that by the beginning of 1928, he and Sokolovskaya were the only known oppositionists in
Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
still at liberty.


Great Purge and death

In January 1933, her older daughter, Zinaida, who had been allowed to go abroad to join her father, committed suicide. On learning of her death, Sokolovskaya wrote Trotsky a letter reproaching him for his coldness. "All this comes from your character, from the fact that you find it so difficult to show your feelings ... you, her father, could have saved her." She took over care of Zinaida's daughter, but early in 1935 she was arrested, following the assassination of
Sergei Kirov Sergei Mironovich Kirov (born Kostrikov; 27 March 1886 – 1 December 1934) was a Russian and Soviet politician and Bolsheviks, Bolshevik revolutionary. Kirov was an early revolutionary in the Russian Empire and a member of the Bolshevik faction ...
. She was last seen in a
Kolyma Kolyma (, ) or Kolyma Krai () is a historical region in the Russian Far East that includes the basin of Kolyma River and the northern shores of the Sea of Okhotsk, as well as the Kolyma Mountains (the watershed of the two). It is bounded to ...
labor camp by Nadezhda Joffe, Adolph Joffe's daughter. She was shot probably on 29 April 1938. Aleksandra Sokolovskaya was posthumously rehabilitated on 7 March 1990.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sokolovskaya, Alexandra 1872 births 1938 deaths Ukrainian Marxists Great Purge victims from Ukraine Left Opposition Leon Trotsky Soviet Trotskyists People who died in the Gulag Politicians from Mykolaiv Women Marxists Soviet rehabilitations Revolutionaries from the Russian Empire Female revolutionaries Executed Soviet women