Alexandra Kollontai was a revolutionary socialist who devoted her life to the fight for women’s liberation and human freedom. She played a prominent role in the Russian revolutions of 1905 and 1917. Kollontai located the struggle for the liberation of women at the centre of the fight for socialism. A committed internationalist, she was one of a number of socialist women who launched International Working Women’s Day in1910 to celebrate and unite the struggle of women workers across the globe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kollontai became a leading member of the revolutionary party. At a time when most countries denied women the right to vote, she became the Commissar (Minister) of Social Welfare in the first Bolshevik government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This short introduction to Kollontai’s life argues that her revolutionary ideas and activism contain vital lessons for the struggle for socialism and women’s liberation today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n