Maria Nikiforova
Encyclopedia
Maria Grigor'evna Nikiforova (1885–1919), was an anarchist partisan
leader. A self-described terrorist from the age of 16, she was known widely by her nickname, Marusya. Through her exploits she became a renowned figure in anarchist movement of 1918- 1919 in Ukraine during Russian Civil War
.
, in 1885, Maria's father was an officer and hero of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878. At the age of 16, she left home and became a babysitter, sales clerk, and ultimately a factory worker, with a position of bottle washer in a vodka distillery. She joined a local group of anarcho-communists
.
She adopted a strategy of motiveless terrorism (bezmotivny terror), staging a number of bombings and expropriation missions, including bank robberies. Captured, her involvement in these activities led to a death sentence
, later commuted to life imprisonment
. She served part of her sentence in the Petropavlovsk
prison in St. Petersburg, before being exiled to Siberia
in 1910. From there she escaped to Japan
. She went from there to the United States
, then Spain
, and finally arrived in Paris
. By 1913 she had become well known by a nickname, Marusya, a slavic diminutive form of "Maria", though when or how she acquired the name is not known.. She was very familiar with it, using it as a signature and was addressed by strangers with it. In Paris, she married Witold Bzhostek, a Polish anarchist and friend, as a matter of convenience. With the outbreak of World War I
, she sided with Peter Kropotkin
's anti-German position, in favor of the Allied powers
. She applied and graduated from a French officer college, serving in the Macedonian front
.
and returned to Petrograd. In the city, she organized and spoke at pro-anarchist rallies in Kronstadt
. In the summer of 1917, with anti-anarchist activity within the Russian Provisional Government
on the rise, Maria escaped back to her home town in Alexandrovsk, MaloRussia Province
. Once there, she organized a fighting force of anarchist Black Guards
under her command to terrorize the city's authorities, in particular army officers and landlords who refused to cooperate with peasant efforts to redistribute wealth. Alexandrovsk's nationalist government struggled to maintain order under the subversive actions of leftists in general, and anarchists in particular, who exercised political control and popular support to exclude the influence of the Central Rada and redistribute private property.
took place in Russian Empire
, leftist dominated cities such as HuliaiPole
were already teetering on open civil war. There, anarchists gained strength by appealing to peasant enthusiasm for revolution. Upon the invasion of Ukraine by the Red Army
, the soviet of the small city issued a decree calling for fighters to join the invasion to overthrow the Ukrainian nationalists. Hundreds of men, mostly anarchists, formed a Black Guard under Nestor Makhno
and his brother Sava, and marched on Alexandrovsk. Under siege by advancing Red Army
forces to the north, Makhno's anarchists to the east, and subversion by Nikiforova's Black Guards from within, the nationalist army retreated from the city on January 15, 1918. The city shortly came under Bolshevik
control. Makhno's forces arrived within days, altering the balance of power in the anarchist's favor.
With Alexandendrovsk secured, Nikiforova and her new ally, Nestor Makhno, held a meeting with the Bolsheviks. Backed by their Black Guards, the duo negotiated to become anarchist representatives in the city's new Revolutionary committee
. At the beginning, Maroussia and Makhno have allied her on common grounds of anarchism, and later Maroussia has begun to accuse Nestor of ignoring the anarchist ideas. She called him for a bloody struggle against the exploiters and Ukrainian nationalism
Nikiforova was appointed to the position of assistant deputy, but within weeks Makhno stepped down in dissatisfaction with the group's lack of radicalism. The pair would operate independently as military commanders in the future, but worked closely and often pooled resources in pursuing an anarchist revolution. Makhno historian, Michael Palij, noted that Nikiforova "exercised a substantial influence upon Makhno from the very beginning of their acquaintance".
In the summer of 1917, anarchists unofficially held economic power in HuliaiPole
, though this was due to underground activity, as officially power rested with the Bolshevik backed soviet in the city
In August 1917, Nikiforova seized and robbed a military storehouse at Orikhiv
, subsequently attacking, disarming and dispersing the town's regiment and executing all officers captured. However, rather than pass these spoils to the Red Army, they were delivered to Makhno and his own Black Guards. This signaled the end of Nikiforova's loyalty to the committee and Bolsheviks, though she would continue to ally with the Red Army occasionally in battle.
She later established a new Black Guard detachment
in the other cities, including Elisavetgrad
.
, gave her funds to upgrade her detachment, which became known as the "Free Combat Druzhina
". This unit was active in fighting the Whites Guards, the Ukrainian Nationalists, and the Germans-Austro-Hungarians over a large area of southern Ukraine. She was instrumental in establishing Soviet power in the city of Yelizavetgrad (today Kirovohrad
) and later was involved in bloody battles in quelling a right-wing revolt in the city. In April 1918, she received a commendation from Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko
for her revolutionary activities.
The Free Combat Druzhina was equipped with two large guns and an armoured flatcar. The wagons were loaded with armoured cars, tachankas, and horses as well as troops which meant that the detachment was by no means restricted to railway lines. The trains were festooned with banners reading "The Liberation of the Workers is the Affair of the Workers Themselves", "Long Live Anarchy", "Power Breeds Parasites", and "Anarchy is the Mother of Order."
The soldiers were better fed and equipped than many of the Red Army units. Although there were no official uniforms, the soldiers certainly had a sense of style. Long hair (not common in that era), sheepskin caps, officers' service jackets, red breeches, and ammunition belts were much in evidence. The Druzhina was composed of a core of militants devoted to Marusya and a larger group which came and went on a fairly casual basis. The militants included a fair number of Black Sea sailors, noted for their fighting qualities throughout Ukraine.
With their black flags and cannons, Marusya's echelons resembled pirate ships sailing across the Ukrainian steppe. One observer, the Left-SR I. Z. Steinberg, compared the trains to the Flying Dutchman, liable to appear at any time, anywhere. Travelling in echelons, the Druzhina advanced to meet the enemy, which in January, 1918, meant the White Guards and the Ukrainian Central Rada.
Nikiforova was put on the trial twice by the Bolsheviks on charges of insubordination and pillaging: in Taganrog in April 1918 and in Moscow in January 1919. She was acquitted at the first trial, where witnesses were present to speak in her defense. Antonov-Ovseyenko also telegraphed a letter in support of her, commending her revolutionary activities in aid to the Bolsheviks. At the second, she was unable to launch a legal defense, and was banned from holding a political post for a year. Returning to Ukraine, she traveled to Huliai
Pole, now an autonomous area under Nestor Makhno's anarchist control, dubbed the Free Territory. Unwilling to damage his alliance with the Red Army, Makhno refused to disobey the sentence and would not appoint her to a position in his Black Army, the Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of Ukraine
. Unable to command a fighting force for, she worked alongside Makhno by making public speeches, and organizing propaganda events.
Antonov-Ovseenko recalled meeting her on April 28, 1919, while reviewing Makhno's troops and the city of Gulyai-Polye
. "Makhno introduces the members of the Gulyai-Polye soviet's executive committee and of his staff. Also there is the political commissar of the bridge, my old acquaintance, Marussia Nikiforova." Seeking to clarify rumors of corruption and counter-revolutionary activity among Makhno's ranks and the soviet of the city, Antonov-Ovseenko wrote glowingly of his impression of Gulyai-Polye. His report intrigued prominent Bolsheviks, who decided to visit the city personally. Lev Kamenev
and a delegation of Ukrainian politicians, arrived by armored train a week following Antonov-Ovseenko visit, on May 7. Nikiforova met them at the train station, and with other members of Makhno's staff, Boris Veretelnikov and Mikhalev-Pavlenko, offered to escort them into the city. After meeting Makhno and touring the city, Kamenev was impressed with Nikiforova, and upon returning to Ekaterinoslav
, he telegraphed Moscow officials. He ordered that her sentence be reduced, from a year, to "six months deprivation of the right to hold responsible posts." However, given the overwhelmingly anti-anarchist propaganda among Bolshevik commanders, politicians, and media, Antonov-Ovseenko's attempts to lobby for military support for the anarchists faltered. His political power declined, and he was replaced within weeks of his visit, on June 15, by Jukums Vācietis
.
in the city of Sevastopol
. There she and Bzhostek were recognized and arrested. Held on trial on September 16, 1919, she and her husband were found guilty and sentenced to death. Both were shot.
politics were formed in her mid-teens, and she quickly adopted militant tactics in order to pursue them. Throughout her years of activism, Nikiforova gave numerous speeches espousing her political opinions. However, transcriptions and quotes from her speeches scarcely survived the Soviet era, and she was not known to write her views in letters, essays, or articles. What is known of her speeches is that she was widely regarded for her charismatic oratory, which she used to expound anarchist views. Widely known as an anarchist, she was said to constantly wear entirely black clothing as a symbol of her libertarian philosophy.
During times of revolution, she favored immediate and complete redistribution of property owned by wealthy land owners, declaring, "The workers and peasants must, as quickly as possible, seize everything that was created by them over many centuries and use it for their own interests."
However, while she constantly spoke in favor of anarchist philosophy, she warned against vanguardism
and elitism
, insisting that anarchists could not guarantee positive social change. "The anarchists are not promising anything to anyone." She cautioned, "The anarchists only want people to be conscious of their own situation and seize freedom for themselves."
, he was denounced for his pro-war hypocrisy by a global majority of anarchists, who were mostly unified in opposition to the conflict entirely. Nikiforova sided so strongly with Kropotkin that she agreed to take part in the conflict and served in the French military.
Nikiforova agreed to ally with the Bolsheviks under special circumstances, and negotiated to have herself appointed to a soviet institution, briefly becoming the Deputy leader of the Alexandrovsk revkom
. She would go on to help establish footholds for Soviet power in several Ukrainian cities, demanding material support from Bolshevik agents in return, which she then used to pursue her anarchist agenda. Although She would ally herself with the Red Army on multiple occasions, she was constantly at odds with their commanders and personally antagonized several, arguing against some their practices on revolutionary grounds. Upon discovering that a Soviet commander was hoarding luxury goods looted from an aristocrat's home, she angrily confronted him for his selfishness. "The property of the estate owners doesn't belong to any particular detachment," she declared "but to the people as a whole. Let the people take what they want." With their alliance based on expediency rather than ideology, she was largely disliked within Bolshevik political circles and was the subject of rumor and harassment in Bolshevik propaganda.
, wrote of her when recalling a 1918 meeting: "This was a woman of 32 – 35, medium height, with an emaciated, prematurely aged face in which there was something of a eunuch or hermaphrodite. Her hair was cropped short in a circle." Years after meeting her in 1919, Aleksei Kiselyov described her in his memoirs: "Around 30 years old. Thin with an emaciated face, she produced the impression of an old maid type. Narrow nose. Sunken cheeks. She wore a blouse and skirt and a small revolver hung from her belt." Kiselev also alleged that she was a cocaine
addict. Nikiforova biographer, Malcolm Archibald, noted that most Bolshevik writers described her in ways similar to this, and hypothesized that this was part of an effort to discredit her ideas with ad hominem
attacks. "One suspects the Bolshevik memoirists, finding her ideology unattractive, tried to make her external appearance ugly as well."
Descriptions of Nikiforova fall into two general categories, either highlighting an alleged repulsiveness, or beauty. An exception to the majority of Bolshevik descriptions, Raksha recalled his 1918 meeting with her in very positive terms: "I had heard that she was a beautiful woman... Marusya was sitting at a table and had a cigarette in her teeth. This she-devil really was a beauty: about 30, gypsy-type with black hair and a magnificent bosom which filled out her military tunic."
Throughout her life, Nikiforova had been wounded multiple times, or had been mistaken for dead, only to reappear in good health later. Due to her reputation within folklore, rumors spread in the months following her death that she was actually still alive.
Marusya copycats
Following her death, Nikiforova's surviving legacy created an opportunity for copycatsfaux Marusyasto appear in the months and years to follow. The only female atamansha while alive, Nikiforova was followed by three women fighters in the Ukrainian War of Independence
who adopted her name for propaganda purposes.
In the 1919, Marusya Sokolovskaia became the commander of her brother's cavalry detachment after his death in battle. A 25 year old Ukrainian nationalist school teacher, she was captured by the Reds and shot. In 1920-1921, Black Maria (Marusya Chernaya) became a commander of a cavalry regiment in the Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of Ukraine
. She died in battle against the Red Army. A final copycat, Marusya Kosova, appeared in the Tambov Rebellion
in 1921-1922. After the revolt was suppressed, she disappeared.
International espionage rumors
Nikiforova was rumored to have become a spy for the Soviet government in Paris in the years following her death. There, it was claimed, she performed undercover work, and was involved in the assassination of Symon Petliura, an exiled Ukrainian nationalist and former leader of the Ukrainian People's Republic
. In actuality, Peliura was assassinated by Sholom Schwartzbard
. A fellow exile and Ukrainian-Jewish anarchist, and former member of Grigori Kotovsky's anarchist detachment, Schwartzbard had worked alone in the assassination. Malcolm Archibald commented, "The only truth in this story might be the fact of anarchists doing the Bolshevik's work for them."
, also wrote of her life within his own records, which were rescued from files held by the Soviet secret police. Briefly a member of the Red Army, Nikiforova's service record exists as one of the few official documentations of her life.
Nikiforova has been largely ignored by historians since her death. Soviet-era historians largely erased her from history, despite the important role she played in the Russian Revolutions of 1917 and subsequent civil war. A biographical dictionary of the Russian Revolution includes hundreds of entries, but does not include her. Of the few Bolshevik women who are included, none held military commands as Nikiforova did. There is no scholarly biography of her life, or historiography of her era which mentions her. The few references made to her by Bolshevik contemporaries in memoirs and works of fiction are biased against her. These depict her uniformly as "repulsive and evil," with little exception.
Nikiforova has also been ignored by non-Soviet historians. Today, Nikiforova remains obscure and uncelebrated within Ukraine. She has been ignored by Ukrainian historians. Critics of this treatment speculate that as an anti-nationalist who fought and was executed by the White Army, Nikforova's activities have been too difficult to rewrite and reconcile to fit a reformist historical narrative.
There is little explanation for the neglect on the part of anarchist historians. While several biographies of Nestor Makhno have been published, there is little mention of Nikiforova. This is despite their close collaboration, and her greater contemporary prominence, according to biographer Malcolm Archibald: "...in 1918 Nikiforova was already famous as an anarchist atamansha (military female leader) throughout Ukraine, while Makhno was still a rather obscure figure operating in a provincial backwater." Of several anarchist historians who have published histories regarding Makhno, only Alexandre Skirda
's work, Nestor Makhno: Anarchy's Cossack, mentions hera single paragraph, out of over 400 pages, is devoted to her.
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, historians have attempted to reintroduce individuals expunged from history, such as Nikiforova, Makhno, and other anarchists. Several essays on Nikiforova have been published, and the Nikiforova biography, Atamansha, published in 2007, was based on such sources in Russia and the Ukraine.
, as the city's Russian name formally matched Nikiforova's home city, Alexandrovsk. However, the two cities are located in entirely different regions of the Ukraine.
Partisan (military)
A partisan is a member of an irregular military force formed to oppose control of an area by a foreign power or by an army of occupation by some kind of insurgent activity...
leader. A self-described terrorist from the age of 16, she was known widely by her nickname, Marusya. Through her exploits she became a renowned figure in anarchist movement of 1918- 1919 in Ukraine during Russian Civil War
Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...
.
Biography
Early life and exile
Born in Alexandrovsk (now Zaporozhie), UkraineUkraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, in 1885, Maria's father was an officer and hero of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878. At the age of 16, she left home and became a babysitter, sales clerk, and ultimately a factory worker, with a position of bottle washer in a vodka distillery. She joined a local group of anarcho-communists
Anarchist communism
Anarchist communism is a theory of anarchism which advocates the abolition of the state, markets, money, private property, and capitalism in favor of common ownership of the means of production, direct democracy and a horizontal network of voluntary associations and workers' councils with...
.
Death Sentence
Death Sentence is a short story by the American science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the November 1943 issue of Astounding Science Fiction and reprinted in the 1972 collection The Early Asimov.-Plot summary:...
, later commuted to life imprisonment
Life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
. She served part of her sentence in the Petropavlovsk
Petropavlovsk
Petropavlovsk may refer to:*Petropavlovsk plc, a mining company listed on the London Stock Exchange-Ships:*Battleship Petropavlovsk , Imperial Russia...
prison in St. Petersburg, before being exiled to Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
in 1910. From there she escaped to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. She went from there to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, then Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, and finally arrived in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. By 1913 she had become well known by a nickname, Marusya, a slavic diminutive form of "Maria", though when or how she acquired the name is not known.. She was very familiar with it, using it as a signature and was addressed by strangers with it. In Paris, she married Witold Bzhostek, a Polish anarchist and friend, as a matter of convenience. With the outbreak of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, she sided with Peter Kropotkin
Peter Kropotkin
Prince Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin was a Russian zoologist, evolutionary theorist, philosopher, economist, geographer, author and one of the world's foremost anarcho-communists. Kropotkin advocated a communist society free from central government and based on voluntary associations between...
's anti-German position, in favor of the Allied powers
Allies of World War I
The Entente Powers were the countries at war with the Central Powers during World War I. The members of the Triple Entente were the United Kingdom, France, and the Russian Empire; Italy entered the war on their side in 1915...
. She applied and graduated from a French officer college, serving in the Macedonian front
Macedonian front (World War I)
The Macedonian Front resulted from an attempt by the Allied Powers to aid Serbia, in the autumn of 1915, against the combined attack of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria. The expedition came too late and in insufficient force to prevent the fall of Serbia, and was complicated by the internal...
.
Return to Alexandrovsk
With the outbreak of the Russian revolution, she abandoned the FrenchFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and returned to Petrograd. In the city, she organized and spoke at pro-anarchist rallies in Kronstadt
Kronstadt
Kronstadt , also spelled Kronshtadt, Cronstadt |crown]]" and Stadt for "city"); is a municipal town in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal city of St. Petersburg, Russia, located on Kotlin Island, west of Saint Petersburg proper near the head of the Gulf of Finland. Population: It is also...
. In the summer of 1917, with anti-anarchist activity within the Russian Provisional Government
Russian Provisional Government
The Russian Provisional Government was the short-lived administrative body which sought to govern Russia immediately following the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II . On September 14, the State Duma of the Russian Empire was officially dissolved by the newly created Directorate, and the country was...
on the rise, Maria escaped back to her home town in Alexandrovsk, MaloRussia Province
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
. Once there, she organized a fighting force of anarchist Black Guards
Black Guards
Black Guards were armed groups of workers formed after the Russian Revolution and before the Third Russian Revolution. They were the main strike force of the anarchists...
under her command to terrorize the city's authorities, in particular army officers and landlords who refused to cooperate with peasant efforts to redistribute wealth. Alexandrovsk's nationalist government struggled to maintain order under the subversive actions of leftists in general, and anarchists in particular, who exercised political control and popular support to exclude the influence of the Central Rada and redistribute private property.
Enter Nestor Makhno
When the October RevolutionOctober Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
took place in Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
, leftist dominated cities such as HuliaiPole
Huliaipole
Huliaipole is a city in Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine. Population is 17 000 .It is known as a birthplace of Nestor Makhno. The name of the city means a walk-about field. Prior to the annexation of the Crimean Khanate by the Russian Empire the area was mostly settled by Cossacks and the nomad people...
were already teetering on open civil war. There, anarchists gained strength by appealing to peasant enthusiasm for revolution. Upon the invasion of Ukraine by the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
, the soviet of the small city issued a decree calling for fighters to join the invasion to overthrow the Ukrainian nationalists. Hundreds of men, mostly anarchists, formed a Black Guard under Nestor Makhno
Nestor Makhno
Nestor Ivanovych Makhno or simply Daddy Makhno was a Ukrainian anarcho-communist guerrilla leader turned army commander who led an independent anarchist army in Ukraine during the Russian Civil War....
and his brother Sava, and marched on Alexandrovsk. Under siege by advancing Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
forces to the north, Makhno's anarchists to the east, and subversion by Nikiforova's Black Guards from within, the nationalist army retreated from the city on January 15, 1918. The city shortly came under Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
control. Makhno's forces arrived within days, altering the balance of power in the anarchist's favor.
With Alexandendrovsk secured, Nikiforova and her new ally, Nestor Makhno, held a meeting with the Bolsheviks. Backed by their Black Guards, the duo negotiated to become anarchist representatives in the city's new Revolutionary committee
Revolutionary committee
Revolutionary committees or revkoms were Bolshevik-led organizations in Soviet Russia and in areas of its activities established to serve as provisional governments and temporary Soviet administrations in territories under the control of the Red Army in 1918-1920, during the Russian Civil War and...
. At the beginning, Maroussia and Makhno have allied her on common grounds of anarchism, and later Maroussia has begun to accuse Nestor of ignoring the anarchist ideas. She called him for a bloody struggle against the exploiters and Ukrainian nationalism
Nikiforova was appointed to the position of assistant deputy, but within weeks Makhno stepped down in dissatisfaction with the group's lack of radicalism. The pair would operate independently as military commanders in the future, but worked closely and often pooled resources in pursuing an anarchist revolution. Makhno historian, Michael Palij, noted that Nikiforova "exercised a substantial influence upon Makhno from the very beginning of their acquaintance".
In the summer of 1917, anarchists unofficially held economic power in HuliaiPole
Huliaipole
Huliaipole is a city in Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine. Population is 17 000 .It is known as a birthplace of Nestor Makhno. The name of the city means a walk-about field. Prior to the annexation of the Crimean Khanate by the Russian Empire the area was mostly settled by Cossacks and the nomad people...
, though this was due to underground activity, as officially power rested with the Bolshevik backed soviet in the city
In August 1917, Nikiforova seized and robbed a military storehouse at Orikhiv
Orikhiv
- History of Orikhiv:Orikhiv was originally founded on about 1793 near the Konka River; it was incorporated in 1801. It is situated about southeast of Aleksandrovsk , and almost the same distance north of the Molochna Kolonia...
, subsequently attacking, disarming and dispersing the town's regiment and executing all officers captured. However, rather than pass these spoils to the Red Army, they were delivered to Makhno and his own Black Guards. This signaled the end of Nikiforova's loyalty to the committee and Bolsheviks, though she would continue to ally with the Red Army occasionally in battle.
She later established a new Black Guard detachment
Detachment
Detachment, also expressed as non-attachment, is a state in which a person overcomes his or her attachment to desire for things, people or concepts of the world and thus attains a heightened perspective.-Importance of the term:...
in the other cities, including Elisavetgrad
Kirovohrad
Kirovohrad , formerly Yelisavetgrad, is a city in central Ukraine. It is located on the Inhul River. It is a motorway junction. Pop. 239,400 ....
.
The Free Combat Druzhina
In December 1917, her Black Guards helped to establish soviet power in eastern Ukraine cities of Kharkiv and Yekaterinoslav, as well as Aleksandrovsk. In thanks, the Bolshevik commander in the region, Vladimir Antonov-OvseenkoVladimir Antonov-Ovseenko
Vladimir Alexandrovich Antonov-Ovseyenko , real surname Ovseyenko, party aliases the 'Bayonet' and 'Nikita' , a literary pseudonym A. Gal , was a prominent Soviet Bolshevik leader and diplomat. He was born in Chernigov into an officer's family.In 1903, Antonov-Ovseyenko joined the Menshevik party...
, gave her funds to upgrade her detachment, which became known as the "Free Combat Druzhina
Druzhina
Druzhina, Drużyna or Družyna in the medieval history of Slavic Europe was a retinue in service of a chieftain, also called knyaz. The name is derived from the Slavic word drug with the meaning of "companion, friend". -Early Rus:...
". This unit was active in fighting the Whites Guards, the Ukrainian Nationalists, and the Germans-Austro-Hungarians over a large area of southern Ukraine. She was instrumental in establishing Soviet power in the city of Yelizavetgrad (today Kirovohrad
Kirovohrad
Kirovohrad , formerly Yelisavetgrad, is a city in central Ukraine. It is located on the Inhul River. It is a motorway junction. Pop. 239,400 ....
) and later was involved in bloody battles in quelling a right-wing revolt in the city. In April 1918, she received a commendation from Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko
Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko
Vladimir Alexandrovich Antonov-Ovseyenko , real surname Ovseyenko, party aliases the 'Bayonet' and 'Nikita' , a literary pseudonym A. Gal , was a prominent Soviet Bolshevik leader and diplomat. He was born in Chernigov into an officer's family.In 1903, Antonov-Ovseyenko joined the Menshevik party...
for her revolutionary activities.
The Free Combat Druzhina was equipped with two large guns and an armoured flatcar. The wagons were loaded with armoured cars, tachankas, and horses as well as troops which meant that the detachment was by no means restricted to railway lines. The trains were festooned with banners reading "The Liberation of the Workers is the Affair of the Workers Themselves", "Long Live Anarchy", "Power Breeds Parasites", and "Anarchy is the Mother of Order."
The soldiers were better fed and equipped than many of the Red Army units. Although there were no official uniforms, the soldiers certainly had a sense of style. Long hair (not common in that era), sheepskin caps, officers' service jackets, red breeches, and ammunition belts were much in evidence. The Druzhina was composed of a core of militants devoted to Marusya and a larger group which came and went on a fairly casual basis. The militants included a fair number of Black Sea sailors, noted for their fighting qualities throughout Ukraine.
With their black flags and cannons, Marusya's echelons resembled pirate ships sailing across the Ukrainian steppe. One observer, the Left-SR I. Z. Steinberg, compared the trains to the Flying Dutchman, liable to appear at any time, anywhere. Travelling in echelons, the Druzhina advanced to meet the enemy, which in January, 1918, meant the White Guards and the Ukrainian Central Rada.
Nikiforova was put on the trial twice by the Bolsheviks on charges of insubordination and pillaging: in Taganrog in April 1918 and in Moscow in January 1919. She was acquitted at the first trial, where witnesses were present to speak in her defense. Antonov-Ovseyenko also telegraphed a letter in support of her, commending her revolutionary activities in aid to the Bolsheviks. At the second, she was unable to launch a legal defense, and was banned from holding a political post for a year. Returning to Ukraine, she traveled to Huliai
Pole, now an autonomous area under Nestor Makhno's anarchist control, dubbed the Free Territory. Unwilling to damage his alliance with the Red Army, Makhno refused to disobey the sentence and would not appoint her to a position in his Black Army, the Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of Ukraine
Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of Ukraine
The Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of Ukraine , popularly called Makhnovshchina, less correctly Makhnovchina, and also known as the Black Army, was an anarchist army formed largely of Ukrainian and Crimean peasants and workers under the command of the famous anarchist Nestor Makhno during the...
. Unable to command a fighting force for, she worked alongside Makhno by making public speeches, and organizing propaganda events.
Antonov-Ovseenko recalled meeting her on April 28, 1919, while reviewing Makhno's troops and the city of Gulyai-Polye
Huliaipole
Huliaipole is a city in Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine. Population is 17 000 .It is known as a birthplace of Nestor Makhno. The name of the city means a walk-about field. Prior to the annexation of the Crimean Khanate by the Russian Empire the area was mostly settled by Cossacks and the nomad people...
. "Makhno introduces the members of the Gulyai-Polye soviet's executive committee and of his staff. Also there is the political commissar of the bridge, my old acquaintance, Marussia Nikiforova." Seeking to clarify rumors of corruption and counter-revolutionary activity among Makhno's ranks and the soviet of the city, Antonov-Ovseenko wrote glowingly of his impression of Gulyai-Polye. His report intrigued prominent Bolsheviks, who decided to visit the city personally. Lev Kamenev
Lev Kamenev
Lev Borisovich Kamenev , born Rozenfeld , was a Bolshevik revolutionary and a prominent Soviet politician. He was briefly head of state of the new republic in 1917, and from 1923-24 the acting Premier in the last year of Lenin's life....
and a delegation of Ukrainian politicians, arrived by armored train a week following Antonov-Ovseenko visit, on May 7. Nikiforova met them at the train station, and with other members of Makhno's staff, Boris Veretelnikov and Mikhalev-Pavlenko, offered to escort them into the city. After meeting Makhno and touring the city, Kamenev was impressed with Nikiforova, and upon returning to Ekaterinoslav
Dnipropetrovsk
Dnipropetrovsk or Dnepropetrovsk formerly Yekaterinoslav is Ukraine's third largest city with one million inhabitants. It is located southeast of Ukraine's capital Kiev on the Dnieper River, in the south-central region of the country...
, he telegraphed Moscow officials. He ordered that her sentence be reduced, from a year, to "six months deprivation of the right to hold responsible posts." However, given the overwhelmingly anti-anarchist propaganda among Bolshevik commanders, politicians, and media, Antonov-Ovseenko's attempts to lobby for military support for the anarchists faltered. His political power declined, and he was replaced within weeks of his visit, on June 15, by Jukums Vācietis
Jukums Vacietis
Jukums Vācietis was a Latvian Soviet military commander. He was a rare example of notable Soviet leaders who were not members of the Communist Party ....
.
Capture and death
In June 1919, Makhno's anarchist armies were outlawed by the Bolshevik command, and came under attack. Facing a two-front war against the white and red armies, Maria gathered a group of fighters, and reunited with her husband Witold Bzhostek. Her intention was to field terrorist cells, as a formal fighting force was no longer available. Dispatching three cells on various missions, she took part in a sabotage mission against the White movementWhite movement
The White movement and its military arm the White Army - known as the White Guard or the Whites - was a loose confederation of Anti-Communist forces.The movement comprised one of the politico-military Russian forces who fought...
in the city of Sevastopol
Sevastopol
Sevastopol is a city on rights of administrative division of Ukraine, located on the Black Sea coast of the Crimea peninsula. It has a population of 342,451 . Sevastopol is the second largest port in Ukraine, after the Port of Odessa....
. There she and Bzhostek were recognized and arrested. Held on trial on September 16, 1919, she and her husband were found guilty and sentenced to death. Both were shot.
Anarchism and revolution
Nikiforova's anarcho-communistAnarchist communism
Anarchist communism is a theory of anarchism which advocates the abolition of the state, markets, money, private property, and capitalism in favor of common ownership of the means of production, direct democracy and a horizontal network of voluntary associations and workers' councils with...
politics were formed in her mid-teens, and she quickly adopted militant tactics in order to pursue them. Throughout her years of activism, Nikiforova gave numerous speeches espousing her political opinions. However, transcriptions and quotes from her speeches scarcely survived the Soviet era, and she was not known to write her views in letters, essays, or articles. What is known of her speeches is that she was widely regarded for her charismatic oratory, which she used to expound anarchist views. Widely known as an anarchist, she was said to constantly wear entirely black clothing as a symbol of her libertarian philosophy.
During times of revolution, she favored immediate and complete redistribution of property owned by wealthy land owners, declaring, "The workers and peasants must, as quickly as possible, seize everything that was created by them over many centuries and use it for their own interests."
However, while she constantly spoke in favor of anarchist philosophy, she warned against vanguardism
Vanguardism
In the context of revolutionary struggle, vanguardism is a strategy whereby an organization attempts to place itself at the center of the movement, and steer it in a direction consistent with its ideology....
and elitism
Elitism
Elitism is the belief or attitude that some individuals, who form an elite — a select group of people with intellect, wealth, specialized training or experience, or other distinctive attributes — are those whose views on a matter are to be taken the most seriously or carry the most...
, insisting that anarchists could not guarantee positive social change. "The anarchists are not promising anything to anyone." She cautioned, "The anarchists only want people to be conscious of their own situation and seize freedom for themselves."
World War I enlistment
While living in exile in Paris, she sided with Peter Kropotkin on the issue of World War I, favoring the Allies in opposition to the German Empire. Biased due to his own anti-German sentimentAnti-German sentiment
Anti-German sentiment is defined as an opposition to or fear of Germany, its inhabitants, and the German language. Its opposite is Germanophilia.-Russia:...
, he was denounced for his pro-war hypocrisy by a global majority of anarchists, who were mostly unified in opposition to the conflict entirely. Nikiforova sided so strongly with Kropotkin that she agreed to take part in the conflict and served in the French military.
Conflicts with Soviet authority
Upon returning to Russia in 1917, Nikiforova was influenced by Apollon Karelin, a veteran anarchist who advocated a tactical strategy of "Soviet anarchism." Meeting her in Petrograd, Karelin's political tactics encouraged anarchist participation in Soviet institutions with the long term plan of directing them towards an anarchist agenda, provided these institutions did not deviate from revolutionary goals. In the event that they deviated from a radical agenda, anarchists were to rebel against them. Such institutional cooperation was widely disliked among anarchists, as they were largely a minority within such institutions, rendering their activity ineffectual.Nikiforova agreed to ally with the Bolsheviks under special circumstances, and negotiated to have herself appointed to a soviet institution, briefly becoming the Deputy leader of the Alexandrovsk revkom
Revolutionary committee
Revolutionary committees or revkoms were Bolshevik-led organizations in Soviet Russia and in areas of its activities established to serve as provisional governments and temporary Soviet administrations in territories under the control of the Red Army in 1918-1920, during the Russian Civil War and...
. She would go on to help establish footholds for Soviet power in several Ukrainian cities, demanding material support from Bolshevik agents in return, which she then used to pursue her anarchist agenda. Although She would ally herself with the Red Army on multiple occasions, she was constantly at odds with their commanders and personally antagonized several, arguing against some their practices on revolutionary grounds. Upon discovering that a Soviet commander was hoarding luxury goods looted from an aristocrat's home, she angrily confronted him for his selfishness. "The property of the estate owners doesn't belong to any particular detachment," she declared "but to the people as a whole. Let the people take what they want." With their alliance based on expediency rather than ideology, she was largely disliked within Bolshevik political circles and was the subject of rumor and harassment in Bolshevik propaganda.
Physical descriptions
Following Nikiforova's death, several publications recalled her as an "intersex" person, describing her in terms which placed emphasis on her supposed unattractiveness. Chudnov, a former MakhnovistMakhnovism
Makhnovism refers to various related political and economic theories elaborated by anarchist revolutionary leader Nestor Makhno, and by other theorists who claim to be carrying on Makhno's work. Makhnovism builds upon and elaborates the ideas of Peter Kropotkin, and serves as the philosophical...
, wrote of her when recalling a 1918 meeting: "This was a woman of 32 – 35, medium height, with an emaciated, prematurely aged face in which there was something of a eunuch or hermaphrodite. Her hair was cropped short in a circle." Years after meeting her in 1919, Aleksei Kiselyov described her in his memoirs: "Around 30 years old. Thin with an emaciated face, she produced the impression of an old maid type. Narrow nose. Sunken cheeks. She wore a blouse and skirt and a small revolver hung from her belt." Kiselev also alleged that she was a cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
addict. Nikiforova biographer, Malcolm Archibald, noted that most Bolshevik writers described her in ways similar to this, and hypothesized that this was part of an effort to discredit her ideas with ad hominem
Ad hominem
An ad hominem , short for argumentum ad hominem, is an attempt to negate the truth of a claim by pointing out a negative characteristic or belief of the person supporting it...
attacks. "One suspects the Bolshevik memoirists, finding her ideology unattractive, tried to make her external appearance ugly as well."
Descriptions of Nikiforova fall into two general categories, either highlighting an alleged repulsiveness, or beauty. An exception to the majority of Bolshevik descriptions, Raksha recalled his 1918 meeting with her in very positive terms: "I had heard that she was a beautiful woman... Marusya was sitting at a table and had a cigarette in her teeth. This she-devil really was a beauty: about 30, gypsy-type with black hair and a magnificent bosom which filled out her military tunic."
Postmortem mythology
Marusya copycats
Following her death, Nikiforova's surviving legacy created an opportunity for copycatsfaux Marusyasto appear in the months and years to follow. The only female atamansha while alive, Nikiforova was followed by three women fighters in the Ukrainian War of Independence
Ukrainian War of Independence
The Ukrainian War of Independence was a series of military conflicts between Ukrainian, Anarchist, Bolshevik, the Central Powers forces of Germany and Austria-Hungary, the White Russian Volunteer Army, and Second Polish Republic forces for control of the territory of modern Ukraine after the...
who adopted her name for propaganda purposes.
In the 1919, Marusya Sokolovskaia became the commander of her brother's cavalry detachment after his death in battle. A 25 year old Ukrainian nationalist school teacher, she was captured by the Reds and shot. In 1920-1921, Black Maria (Marusya Chernaya) became a commander of a cavalry regiment in the Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of Ukraine
Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of Ukraine
The Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of Ukraine , popularly called Makhnovshchina, less correctly Makhnovchina, and also known as the Black Army, was an anarchist army formed largely of Ukrainian and Crimean peasants and workers under the command of the famous anarchist Nestor Makhno during the...
. She died in battle against the Red Army. A final copycat, Marusya Kosova, appeared in the Tambov Rebellion
Tambov Rebellion
The Tambov Rebellion which occurred between 1920 and 1921 was one of the largest and best-organized peasant rebellions challenging the Bolshevik regime during the Russian Civil War. The uprising took place in the territories of the modern Tambov Oblast and part of the Voronezh Oblast, less than...
in 1921-1922. After the revolt was suppressed, she disappeared.
International espionage rumors
Nikiforova was rumored to have become a spy for the Soviet government in Paris in the years following her death. There, it was claimed, she performed undercover work, and was involved in the assassination of Symon Petliura, an exiled Ukrainian nationalist and former leader of the Ukrainian People's Republic
Ukrainian People's Republic
The Ukrainian People's Republic or Ukrainian National Republic was a republic that was declared in part of the territory of modern Ukraine after the Russian Revolution, eventually headed by Symon Petliura.-Revolutionary Wave:...
. In actuality, Peliura was assassinated by Sholom Schwartzbard
Sholom Schwartzbard
Sholem Schwarzbard was a Bessarabian-born Jewish poet and anarchist, known primarily for the assassination of the Ukrainian nationalist leader Symon Petliura...
. A fellow exile and Ukrainian-Jewish anarchist, and former member of Grigori Kotovsky's anarchist detachment, Schwartzbard had worked alone in the assassination. Malcolm Archibald commented, "The only truth in this story might be the fact of anarchists doing the Bolshevik's work for them."
Treatment by historians
Nikiforova left few written records or photographs of herself during much of her life. This is owed in part to her hidden activity as an international terrorist. Operating underground, and in exile across multiple countries, Nikiforova did not begin to make her activity public knowledge until the last two years of her life, when she officially held a military command. A few contemporary records of her life survived the Soviet era. Nestor Makhno provided eye-witness accounts of several dramatic incidents in Nikiforova's life within his memoirs. Makhno's former adjutant, Viktor BelashViktor Belash
Viktor Fedorovich Belash was the Chief of Staff of the Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of Ukraine under Nestor Makhno. Belash's Memoirs are an important source for the history of this insurrection....
, also wrote of her life within his own records, which were rescued from files held by the Soviet secret police. Briefly a member of the Red Army, Nikiforova's service record exists as one of the few official documentations of her life.
Nikiforova has been largely ignored by historians since her death. Soviet-era historians largely erased her from history, despite the important role she played in the Russian Revolutions of 1917 and subsequent civil war. A biographical dictionary of the Russian Revolution includes hundreds of entries, but does not include her. Of the few Bolshevik women who are included, none held military commands as Nikiforova did. There is no scholarly biography of her life, or historiography of her era which mentions her. The few references made to her by Bolshevik contemporaries in memoirs and works of fiction are biased against her. These depict her uniformly as "repulsive and evil," with little exception.
Nikiforova has also been ignored by non-Soviet historians. Today, Nikiforova remains obscure and uncelebrated within Ukraine. She has been ignored by Ukrainian historians. Critics of this treatment speculate that as an anti-nationalist who fought and was executed by the White Army, Nikforova's activities have been too difficult to rewrite and reconcile to fit a reformist historical narrative.
There is little explanation for the neglect on the part of anarchist historians. While several biographies of Nestor Makhno have been published, there is little mention of Nikiforova. This is despite their close collaboration, and her greater contemporary prominence, according to biographer Malcolm Archibald: "...in 1918 Nikiforova was already famous as an anarchist atamansha (military female leader) throughout Ukraine, while Makhno was still a rather obscure figure operating in a provincial backwater." Of several anarchist historians who have published histories regarding Makhno, only Alexandre Skirda
Alexandre Skirda
Alexandre Skirda was born in 1942. His mother was Ukrainian and his father was Russian. He is a historian and a translator, specializing in the Russian anarchist revolutionary movement. His writing is in French.-Books in French:...
's work, Nestor Makhno: Anarchy's Cossack, mentions hera single paragraph, out of over 400 pages, is devoted to her.
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, historians have attempted to reintroduce individuals expunged from history, such as Nikiforova, Makhno, and other anarchists. Several essays on Nikiforova have been published, and the Nikiforova biography, Atamansha, published in 2007, was based on such sources in Russia and the Ukraine.
See also
ListsFootnotes
. Historian Michael Palij refers to this city as "Oleksandrivsk". This should not be confused with contemporary OleksandrivskOleksandrivsk
Oleksandrivsk is a city in Luhansk Oblast of Ukraine. Population is 7,045 ....
, as the city's Russian name formally matched Nikiforova's home city, Alexandrovsk. However, the two cities are located in entirely different regions of the Ukraine.
External links
- Maria Nikiforova at Libcom.org