April 26: Birthday of Inessa Armand, revolutionary, feminist, and Lenin's lover
Inessa Armand was born on April 26, 1874, in Paris. A revolutionary, activist in the international women's movement, and Vladimir Lenin's closest ally and lover, she was one of the most remarkable women of her era.
From Paris to Russia
Inessa's father was an opera singer, and her mother was a theater actress of Russian descent. From the age of six, she grew up in Russia with her grandmother. At nineteen, she married the grandson of a prominent manufacturer, Alexander Armand. She gave birth to four children, built a school in a village near Moscow with her family's funds, and taught literacy to peasant children.
The revolution began with a book
At twenty-nine, Inessa left her husband for his younger brother, Vladimir, and gave birth to another son. It was her new husband who introduced her to the Social Democrats. Lenin's book, "The Development of Capitalism in Russia," became a turning point for her: Armand became a Bolshevik.
In 1904, at the age of thirty, she joined the RSDLP. Inessa's Moscow apartment served as a safe house for fellow party members. She was responsible for illegal literature.
Arrest, exile, escape
In 1905, she was arrested and sent into exile near Arkhangelsk. In 1908, Armand fled to Switzerland, where her husband was waiting for her. After his death from tuberculosis, she entered the University of Brussels: in a year, she completed the full coursework in the economics department and earned a degree.
Lenin and Armand
In 1909, she met Lenin in Paris. She was thirty-five, he was thirty-nine. They developed a close, trusting relationship. Their correspondence has been preserved.
“I could do without kisses even now, and just seeing you, sometimes talking to you would be a joy – and it could not hurt anyone,” Armand wrote to Lenin in 1913.
Feminist and anti-war agitator
Armand was an active member of the Workers' Opposition and often disagreed with Lenin on fundamental issues. She advocated for women's freedom in matters of love and marriage.
“In our age of electricity and steam, there still exist completely primitive and crude attitudes towards women,” she said.
With the outbreak of the First World War, she agitated French workers against participating in the war on the side of the Entente.
Return and Revolution
In 1912, she returned to Russia illegally and was arrested again. She was released on bail, which her first husband posted. Afterward, she returned to Paris.
In April 1917, Inessa Armand arrived in Russia with Lenin, in the so-called "sealed carriage." She was elected to the Moscow City Duma and continued her revolutionary work.
