Here is the story of Emma Goldman, an anarchist and feminist activist who became a true pillar of the 20th century.
Who was Emma Goldman
Emma Goldman (Kovno, June 29, 1869 – Toronto, May 14, 1940) was a Russian activist naturalized in the United States. He was born in present-day Kaunas (Lithuania) and soon moved to St. Petersburg with his family with whom he lived a difficult childhood.
The figure of the father, in fact, is known to be very authoritarian and severe, and tolerance towards Jews is less and less and this leads her to experience great difficulties.
At the age of fifteen he emigrated to the United States where approaches the world of justice analyzing some cases of the city of Chicago. He begins to approach the world of striking workers by taking part in what is the anarchist movement. Shocked by the episode of revolutionaries hanged in the square, decides to approach their cause and have the same courage that led them to fight for justice, even at the cost of being killed.
Emma Goldman and the beginning of activism
In recent years she therefore met Johann Most, a German anarchist who sees great potential in her. It turns out that the young woman has great speaking skills and encourages her to hold lectures in Russian and also in German. In this period he also met Alexander Berkman who became his faithful life partner and ally in ideological causes.
One of the most significant episodes of his life is that of the Homestead steel factories.
In 1892 the owner Henry Clay Frick suddenly decides to fire some workers and change wages, causing great confusion even in the most moderate press. During a strike some workers are killed by the factory guards and so, Emma and Alexander decide to avenge their death by shooting Frick. The owner of the company does not die, but is seriously injured and from this moment Goldman enters the crosshairs of the police and the press.
Become a dangerous and charming woman who takes the floor in the biggest theaters from Boston and New York to Canada. The police repeatedly try to stop her from speaking either by interrupting her speeches or by lobbying the theaters. In 1907 he managed to increase his activity by taking part in the International Anarchist Congress in Amsterdam where he met colleagues from all over the world.
Emma Goldman and feminism
Also during the following decade he made his voice heard along with that of his companion, this time opposing the militarism derived from the outbreak of the First World War. Make the “Anti-Conscription League” to invite young people to refuse the call to arms and desert. This gesture costs them their stay and, once expelled, they are forced to return to Russia. Here for a moment thinking that anarchist thought can be assimilated to anarchist one, but it is not so. In fact, he discovers the persecutions of Lenin and the Social Revolutionaries against his movement.
After a series of complications, they decide to leave Russia, thus moving between different cities including Stockholm, Munich but also London and Barcelona. During the course of his career he is not only dealing with anarchist ideals, often in fact it touches on the theme of women’s emancipation. He talks about the use of contraceptives and birth control, a topic that will also be addressed by American feminists including Simone de Beauvoir.
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