About
Inès Armand, born Élisabeth-Inès Stéphane in Paris in 1874, grew up in Moscow in the Armand family, wealthy textile manufacturers. Married to Alexander Armand, she joined the revolutionary movement and was arrested several times by the tsarist police. In exile, she met Lenin in Paris around 1909 and became his close collaborator. Organizer of the International Socialist Women's Conference in Bern in 1915, she returned to Russia with Lenin in 1917. After the October Revolution, she directed the Zhenotdel, the women's section of the Communist Party, and campaigned for women's rights. She died of cholera in 1920 and was buried in Red Square.
* 1874-05-08 — † 1920-09-24
Key milestones
- 1915Organized the International Socialist Women's Conference in Bern, an anti-war gathering during the Zimmerwald movement.
- 1917Returned to Russia with Lenin aboard the 'sealed train' through Germany in April.
- 1919Became the first director of the Zhenotdel, the Women's Section of the Central Committee of the Russian Communist Party.
Themes
RevolutionWomen's rightsSocialismFeminismExile
Sources: hls-dhs-dss.ch · catdir.loc.gov