Born in Paris in an exiled Russian family, French historian, specialist in Russia, Hélène Carrère d’Encausse has been a member of the French Academy since 1991, where she was the first woman elected perpetual secretary in 1999. Mutliprimée, the work by Hélène Carrère d’Encausse is made up of essays and numerous biographies from “Lenin” to “Catherine II” or even “Alexander II”. Her new book is devoted to the first great Russian feminist of the 20th century: Alexandra Kollontaï.
” Here is the story of an exceptional and little-known woman, Alexandra Kollontaï.
Born in Saint Petersburg into an aristocratic family in 1872, she was the first woman minister of history. The first woman to climb all the levels of the diplomatic corps to end up being an ambassador, she took part in the 1905 revolution, then joined the ranks of the Bolsheviks and was part of Lenin’s first government. This pioneer, claiming to lead her life, especially in love, as she sees fit, defends the right to vote of women, the right to divorce, equal pay between men and women, etc. In 1920, she demanded more democracy within the government of the Soviets, then went on to pursue a career as a diplomat, she who spoke eight languages and had already traveled a lot. In 1945, her career came to an end and she died in 1952 in Moscow after having published her Memoirs. “(Presentation of editions Fayard)