Sofia Nikolaevna Smidovich (; 24 February 1872 – 24 November 1934) was a

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

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 ...

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

and the leader of the

Zhenotdel The Zhenotdel (, ), the women's department of the Central Committee of the All-Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks), was the section of the Russian Communist party devoted to women's affairs in the 1920s. It gave women in the Russian Revolut ...

from 1922 to 1924.

Early life

Smidovich was born on 24 February 1872 ( N.S. 8 March) to a middle-class family in Tula. She only attended high school, unlike many of her high ranking feminists peers. She joined the

RSDLP The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP), also known as the Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party (RSDWP) or the Russian Social Democratic Party (RSDP), was a socialist political party founded in 1898 in Minsk, Russian Empire. The ...

in 1898, where she campaigned with fellow feminist revolutionaries such as Alexandria Kollontai.

Pre-1917 Revolution Activities

Before the 1917

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

, Smidovich had taken part in various feminist protests and the

1905 revolution The Russian Revolution of 1905, also known as the First Russian Revolution, was a revolution in the Russian Empire which began on 22 January 1905 and led to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy under the Russian Constitution of 1906, t ...

. She became a close and important ally for radical Bolshevik feminists at the time, most notably, Kollontai and Elena Statsova.

Differing Views to Kollontai

Post revolution, it became clear that Smidovich was one of the more conservative Bolshevik feminists and she openly rejected Kollontai's ideas of

free love Free love is a social movement that accepts all forms of love. The movement's initial goal was to separate the State (polity), state from sexual and romantic matters such as marriage, birth control, and adultery. It stated that such issues we ...

and the destruction of the

family unit Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

. She instead wanted to focus on the plight of "single motherhood". Smidovich believed the family should have a healthy relationship of equal partners, not the complete destruction of traditional romantic relationships. Smidovich would eventually oust Kollontai as head of the Zhenotdel in 1922. Smidovich was very much in line with government policy at the time, which was against radical ideas of free love. Kollontai would describe her relationship with Smidovich in her memoirs as "too painful to talk about".

Later life

Smidovich remained an outspoken critic of "loose sexual tendencies". However, like most radical feminists at the time, she disappeared in political obscurity, after the rise of

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

. Stalin viewed many feminists as potential opposition, so Smidovich was suppressed. Smidovich would die in November 1934 in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smidovich, Sofia 1872 births 1934 deaths Soviet women in politics Russian socialist feminists Revolutionaries of the Russian Revolution of 1905 Revolutionaries of the Russian Revolution