The Strange Comrade Balabanoff: The Life of a Communist Rebel

by Maria Lafont

Overview

Born in 1878 to a wealthy Ukrainian family, Angelica Balabanoff broke ties with her parents and left for Europe to become one of the leading female socialists of the early 20th century. Just five feet tall, plump and plain, she was rumored to be a lover of Mussolini, Lenin, and Trotsky. Returning to Russia at the beginning of the October Revolution, she became one of the few women to occupy high-ranking positions within the all-male Bolshevik government, later fleeing Russia in disagreement with Lenin's politics. She was accused by European and American secret services of promoting communist propaganda, and by the Soviets of disloyalty. She lived in small dormitory-like rooms, moving on average every two years with her two suitcases of important documents.

She died in Rome at the age of 96, concluding her 65-year career by supporting Giuseppe Saragat in his quest to become president of Italy. During her nomadic life, state and police agencies in the countries she visited compiled documents on her. The author draws on this extensive, scattered archive in this first biography of Balabanoff.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780786498789
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	04/13/2016
Pages:	244
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Maria Lafont lives and works near Paris, France.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Preface 1

Introduction 9

List of Personalities 11

Abbreviations and Definitions 15

I A Natural-Born Rebel 17

II Professional Nomination 26

III Alone with Lenin 33

IV A Female Lecturer 38

V Forming Il Duce 50

VI Female Journalist 55

VII Expulsion 65

VIII International Spy 71

IX Lenin's Favorite; Mussolini's Most Trusted 74

X Mussolini's Elegy 82

XI A Well-Hidden Family 91

XII Back to Russia 97

XIII De Facto Ambassador to the Scandinavian Countries 104

XIV Dining with the Lenins 112

XV Post-Mortem Research 118

XVI Organizing the First and Only General Strike in Switzerland 121

XVII Vice President of Foreign Affairs to the Ukraine 129

XVIII Governor of Odessa 141

XIX Lenin's Most Trusted Agent 149

XX Freemason Without an Apron 156

XXI An Adolescent Armenian Boy 164

XXII Persona Non Grata 172

XXIII The Spy Whom I Loved 178

XXIV The Foundation of Angelica Balabanoff 185

XXV Under FBI Surveillance 197

XXVI The Red Popessa 201

Afterword: Ten Birth Dates 213

Chapter Notes 217

Bibliography 225

Index 229