Anna Kuliscioff

Anna Kuliscioff, ca.1907

Anna Kuliscioff (Italian transcription , Russian Анна Моисеевна Кулишёва , Anna Kulischowa , actually Анна Моисеевна Розенштейн , Anna Moiseevna Rosenstein ; * 1857 in Moskaja in Simferopol , Crimea , † 27. December 1925 in Milan ) was a revolutionary Jewish-Russian origin, a dedicated Feminist , a Bakunin -influenced anarchist and a committed socialist who mostly worked in Italy . For a long time she was the life partner of the socialist politician and party leader Filippo Turati .

Life

As one of the first women in Russia, she studied medicine in Kiev and for a few years in Zurich. In 1873 she married Pyotr Makarevich and returned to Russia. Her husband was arrested for anarchist activity in 1874 and died in prison while she herself went underground and joined a radical group. When this was dug up, she fled with a false passport to Paris in April 1877, where she became involved with the Italian socialist Andrea Costa and took the name Kuliscioff . She was arrested in France, Italy and Switzerland over the next two years for her political activities. During this time she contracted tuberculosis .

In 1881 she settled with Costa in his hometown of Imola , and in December of that year she gave birth to a daughter. Against her partner's resistance, she resumed her medical studies, initially in Switzerland. It was only with difficulty that she managed to find internships and finally to do her doctorate in Naples. In the mid-1880s, Costa separated and a new relationship with Filippo Turati , one of the most famous Italian socialists of upper-class origin, took place, who enabled her to live a carefree life. Conversely, Turati benefited from her political experience. Nevertheless, she worked as a doctor in Milan, primarily as a gynecologist, and it was from these experiences that her combative feminism was determined. In 1891 she gave up her medical profession for health reasons and took over the editing of Critica Sociale, one of the most important socialist newspapers in the country, of which she became the main author. In 1892 she worked a. a. with Turati and the feminist Anna Maria Mozzoni to found the PSI ( Partito Socialista Italiano ), but did not join the party. After the Bava Beccaris massacre in 1898, she and Filippo Turati were arrested. As a militant activist for women's suffrage , she was often on trial and had to serve several prison terms. She belonged to the party executive and was considered the leading head of the Italian socialists. She joined the women's movement through a sensational lecture on the situation of women workers in northern Italy, whose difficult life she knew firsthand. Thanks to Kuliscioff, the PSI always kept in contact with the so-called Orthodox Socialists, in particular with Friedrich Engels . At the turn of the century, Kuliscioff was a leader in strikes and the activities of the women's movement (voting rights, equal pay for equal work, eight-hour day and the like). Under the influence of Benito Mussolini , the left wing of the party gained more and more influence. Although Mussolini had to leave the party in 1914 due to interventionist tendencies, the left wing continued to grow, which led to the separation in 1921. Kuliscioff and Turati were joint founders of the new moderate Partito Socialista Unitario , which was pushed underground by Mussolini after the murder of Giacomo Matteotti .

Anna Kuliscioff died in December 1925 of the long-term effects of tuberculosis. Her funeral became a political beacon despite massive interference from fascist thugs. Turati had already fled to Paris at the time, but was able to attend the funeral ceremonies.

Aftermath

In her honor, the Anna Kuliscioff Foundation was established in Milan, which has a library of 35,000 books and printed matter dealing with the history of socialism.

literature

• Filippo Turati, Anna Kuliscioff: Amore e socialismo. Un carteggio inedito. 2001, ISBN 88-221-3965-8 .
• Filippo Turati: Il socialismo italiano . 1997, ISBN 88-86083-36-X .
• Filippo Turati, Anna Kuliscioff: Carteggio . ISBN 88-06-09944-2 .
• Elisabeth Dickmann: The Italian women's movement in the 19th century . Frankfurt a. M. 2002. Therein: Chap. 4.6: The socialist women's movement , pp. 154–160; Cape. 6: The question of women and socialism: Anna Kuliscioff , pp. 221–260. ISBN 3-927884-62-6

Footnotes

1. ^ Rudolf Lill : History of Italy from the 16th century to the beginnings of fascism . Scientific book company, Darmstadt 1980, ISBN 3-534-06746-0 , p. 231.
2. ^ Rudolf Lill: History of Italy from the 16th century to the beginnings of fascism . Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1980, p. 236.

Web links

• Biography on Leonardo.it (Italian)
• Biography of Naomi Shepherd in the Jewish Women's Archive, March 1, 2009