Inessa Armand

InessaArmandwasthefirstDirectoroftheWomen'sSectionoftheRussianCommunistParty(theZhenotdel).Shewasoneofthemostimportantwomeninthepre-revolutionaryBolshevikParty,andsecondonlytoAleksandraKollontaiintheranksofearlySovietfeminists.YetifArmandismentionedatallinWesternliterature,itissolelyasLenin'sprotégéeandprobablemistress.InthispoliticalbiographyofArmand,thefirsttoappearinEnglish,ProfessorR.C.ElwoodseekstocorrectthispicturebyportrayingherasanaccomplishedrevolutionarypropagandistandBolshevikorganizerbefore1917andasafeministwhodevotedmuchofherlifetodefendingwomen'sinterestsinthehome,intheworkplaceandinsociety.Basedonunpublishedpolicereports,memoirs.Armand'sletterstoherfivechildrenandtwohusbands,andLenin's118publishedletterstoher,thisstudyprovidesrevealinginformationonherupbringinginthewealthyArmandfamily,ontherevolutionarysympathiesofmanymembersofthatfamily,ontheirsubsequentandcontroversialfinancialsupportoftheBolshevikParty,andonhercareerasaTolstoyanandfeministlongbeforeshebecamearevolutionary.