Anna Semyonorna Ingerman (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth ...

Amitin; May 27, 1868 – May 19, 1931) was a Russian-born Jewish-American physician and socialist.

Early life and education

Ingerman was born on May 27, 1868 in Vyetka,

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

, near the city of

Gomel Gomel (russian: Гомель, ) or Homiel ( be, Гомель, ) is the administrative centre of Gomel Region and the second-largest city in Belarus with 526,872 inhabitants (2015 census). Etymology There are at least six narratives of the or ...

. Ingerman attended gymnasium, the most prestigious form of secondary schooling in Russia at the time. In the late 1880s, she moved to

Bern, Switzerland german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

and studied medicine. While there, she joined Georgi Plekhanov's Group for the Emancipation of Labor (GEL), the first Russian Marxist organization. She graduated from the

University of Bern The University of Bern (german: Universität Bern, french: Université de Berne, la, Universitas Bernensis) is a university in the Swiss capital of Bern and was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the Canton of Bern. It is a compreh ...

in 1893.

Career

Ingerman immigrated to America shortly after her husband Sergius, who immigrated in 1891, and they settled in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. She was a member of the

Socialist Labor Party The Socialist Labor Party (SLP)"The name of this organization shall be Socialist Labor Party". Art. I, Sec. 1 of thadopted at the Eleventh National Convention (New York, July 1904; amended at the National Conventions 1908, 1912, 1916, 1920, 1924 ...

, the

Social Democratic Party of America The Social Democratic Party of America (SDP) was a short-lived political party in the United States established in 1898. The group was formed out of elements of the Social Democracy of America (SDA) and was a predecessor to the Socialist Party of ...

in the late 1890s, the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of t ...

since its inception, and Russian Social-Democracy organizations in New York. She was a lecturer and teacher for numerous Russian, German, Jewish, and American study circles, women's clubs, and workingmen's societies connected to the socialist movement. In 1893, she founded the Arbeterin Fareyn (Workingwomen's Circle) with

Adella Kean Zametkin Adella Kean Zametkin (born Adella Emanuelovna Khean; October 12, 1863 – May 19, 1931) was a Russian-born Jewish-American writer and activist. Life Zametkin was born on October 12, 1863 in Mohyliv-Podilskyi, Tsarist Russia as Adella Emanuelo ...

and several other women, and in 1895 she led four thousand Jewish women who marched under its banner in the 1895 May Day Parade. She and Sergius established the Russian Social Democratic Society, which raised funds for the GEL and the

Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP; in , ''Rossiyskaya sotsial-demokraticheskaya rabochaya partiya (RSDRP)''), also known as the Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party or the Russian Social Democratic Party, was a socialist pol ...

. She and Sergius were also ambassadors for the latter party's

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 ...

wing. Ingerman and Sergius visited Russia shortly after the

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 ...

began, hoping the Czar would be overthrown. They stayed in Russia for three years, after which they returned to America. They again returned to Russia after the

1917 Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of governme ...

, staying there for six months while Ingerman helped wounded people injured during the uprising. After returned to America, they spoke out against the regime of

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...

and

Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian M ...

, claiming the true socialist faction was violently opposed to communism. She opposed the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

regime ever since, claiming she was against the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

since 1905. In America, she was associated in her socialist work with

Morris Hillquit Morris Hillquit (August 1, 1869 – October 8, 1933) was a founder and leader of the Socialist Party of America and prominent labor lawyer in New York City's Lower East Side. Together with Eugene V. Debs and Congressman Victor L. Berger, Hillqu ...

and

Algernon Lee Algernon H. "Al" Lee (1873 – 1954) was an American socialist politician and educator. In addition to serving as a member of the New York City Council during World War I, Lee was one of three co-authors of the controversial anti-war resolution at ...

. She also wrote socialist articles for newspapers in English and other languages, including the ''

New York Call The ''New York Call'' was a socialist daily newspaper published in New York City from 1908 through 1923. The ''Call'' was the second of three English-language dailies affiliated with the Socialist Party of America, following the '' Chicago Daily S ...

'', the ''

New Yorker Volkszeitung ''New Yorker Volkszeitung'' was the longest-running German language daily labor newspaper in the United States of America, established in 1878 and suspending publication in October 1932. At the time of its demise during the Great Depression the ' ...

'', the ''

Novy Mir ''Novy Mir'' (russian: links=no, Новый мир, , ''New World'') is a Russian-language monthly literary magazine. History ''Novy Mir'' has been published in Moscow since January 1925. It was supposed to be modelled on the popular pre- Soviet ...

'', and the ''Narodnaya Gazeta''. In the 1926 United States House of Representatives election, Ingerman was the Socialist candidate in

New York's 17th congressional district New York's 17th congressional district is a congressional district for the United States House of Representatives located in Southern New York. It includes all of Rockland County and portions of central and northwestern Westchester County, i ...

. She lost to Democrat

William W. Cohen William Wolfe Cohen (September 6, 1874 – October 12, 1940) was an American businessman and politician who served one term as a United States House of Representatives, U.S. Representative from New York (state), New York from 1927 to 1929. Biog ...

. In the 1927 New York City aldermanic election, she was the Socialist candidate for the

New York City Board of Aldermen The New York City Board of Aldermen was a body that was the upper house of New York City's Common Council from 1824 to 1875, the lower house of its Municipal Assembly upon consolidation in 1898 until the charter was amended in 1901 to abolish t ...

in Manhattan's 9th District, losing to Democrat Dennis J. Mahon. In 1928, she ran for the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...

as a Socialist in New York County's 15th District. She lost to

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or again ...

Abbot Low Moffat Abbot Low Moffat (May 12, 1901 – April 17, 1996) was an American lawyer, politician and diplomat from New York. Life and career Moffat was born on May 12, 1901, on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. He graduated from Harvard University in 1923, ...

. In 1929, she again for the Assembly as a Socialist in New York County's 9th District, losing to Democrat Ira H. Holley. Ingerman met

Sergius Ingerman Sergius Mikhalovitch Ingerman (August 15, 1868 – February 18, 1943) was a Russian-born Jewish-American socialist and physician. Life Ingerman was born on August 15, 1868, in Kamianets-Podilskyi, Kamenetz-Podolsk, Russian Empire, Russia, the s ...

, a fellow medical student and socialist, while living in Bern. They married in May 1889. They had a daughter, Dr. Eugenia Ingerman Low. Her son-in-law Bela Low was a metallurgical expert for the

War Production Board The War Production Board (WPB) was an agency of the United States government that supervised war production during World War II. President Franklin D. Roosevelt established it in January 1942, with Executive Order 9024. The WPB replaced the S ...

, and her grandson was

Francis E. Low Francis Eugene Low (October 27, 1921 – February 16, 2007) was an American theoretical physicist. He was an Institute Professor at MIT, and served as provost there from 1980 to 1985. He was a member of the influential JASON Defense Advisory Group ...

Death

Ingerman died in the Polyclinic Hospital following a severe surgery on May 19, 1931. Around 2,000 people attended her funeral in The Jewish Daily Forward Building, including Algernon Lee,

Abraham Cahan Abraham "Abe" Cahan ( Yiddish: אַבֿרהם קאַהאַן; July 7, 1860 – August 31, 1951) was a Lithuanian-born Jewish American socialist newspaper editor, novelist, and politician. Cahan was one of the founders of ''The Forward'' (), ...

, Morris Hillquit, and Bertha H. Mailly. Lee presided over the funeral. She was cremated at Fresh Pond Crematory.

References

External links

*
The Political Graveyard
' {{DEFAULTSORT:Ingerman, Anna 1868 births 1931 deaths People from Vietka District People from Gomelsky Uyezd American people of Belarusian-Jewish descent Jews from the Russian Empire Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States University of Bern alumni 19th-century American women physicians 19th-century American physicians 20th-century American women physicians 20th-century American physicians Physicians from New York City Jewish American people in New York (state) politics New York (state) socialists Members of the Socialist Labor Party of America Social Democratic Party of America politicians Socialist Party of America politicians from New York (state)