Catherine Konstantinovna Breshkovsky
Екатерина Константиновна Брешко-Брешковская
1844–1934
○ Natural causes · exile
'Grandmother of the Russian Revolution' who endured 44 years of prison and exile; co-founder of the Socialist Revolutionary Party
"Mr. Kennan, we may die in exile, and our children may die in exile, and our children's children may die in exile, but something will come of it at last" — to George Kennan in Siberia, 1885.
Born into the nobility, she helped free her family's serfs in 1861, then joined the 1874 'Going to the People' movement. At the 1878 Trial of the 193 she became the first woman sentenced to katorga for a political crime, enduring 22 years in prison and Siberian exile that brought international fame through George Kennan's writings. Released in 1896, she co-founded the Socialist Revolutionary Party with Grigory Gershuni and led creation of its Combat Organization, then raised funds on a 1904 U.S. tour where she was dubbed 'Babushka.' After the February Revolution she returned as the symbolic elder of the Provisional Government and chaired the Pre-Parliament, but opposed the Bolshevik takeover and backed the White cause. Exiled in 1918, she died in Czechoslovakia.
Career Timeline
- 1861Helped free serfs on family estate; opened school, library, and cooperative bank for peasants
- 1873–1874Formed radical commune in Kiev; joined 'Going to the People,' propagandizing in villages with false passports
- 1874–1878Arrested; held in St. Petersburg House of Preliminary Detention; convicted at Trial of the 193 — first woman sentenced to katorga (5 years, Kara mines)
- 1878–1896Served katorga at Kara, exiled to Barguzin and Selenginsk; recaptured after 1881 escape, 4 more years katorga; 22 years imprisonment/exile; interviewed by George Kennan
- 1896–1901Released under Nicholas II coronation amnesty; with Grigory Gershuni revived populist movement in Minsk, laid groundwork for SR Party
- 1901–1903Co-founded Socialist Revolutionary Party; toured Russia illegally with Gershuni building organization; led creation of SR Combat Organization
- 1903–1905Fled to Geneva; attended 1904 Amsterdam Congress of the Second International; toured U.S. raising ~$10,000; nicknamed 'Babushka'
- 1905–1910Returned to Russia for the 1905 Revolution; betrayed by Yevno Azef in 1908, arrested and held in Peter and Paul Fortress
- 1910–1917Sentenced to Siberian exile for life; 1913 escape attempt failed 7 miles from Irkutsk; solitary confinement in Yakutsk; U.S. protests secured return to Irkutsk
- 1917Returned to Petrograd after February Revolution, welcomed by Kerensky; chaired Pre-Parliament as oldest member; opposed Bolshevik takeover, appealed for Czechoslovak Legion intervention
- 1918–1934Exiled via Vladivostok and Japan to U.S.; lobbied for White intervention; settled in Czechoslovakia via Paris; organized Carpatho-Russian Labor Party; died near Prague