Zinaida Volkova
Encyclopedia
Zinaida Volkova (March 27, 1901, Siberia
- January 5, 1933, Berlin
) was a Russia
n Marxist. She was Leon Trotsky
's first daughter by his first wife, Aleksandra Sokolovskaya
.
where her parents were living in exile at the time. As a child, she was mostly raised by Trotsky's parents, David and Anna Bronstein, since her parents parted ways in 1902 and were both revolutionaries with necessarily erratic lifestyles.
After the Russian Revolution of 1917
, Zinaida married Zakhar Borisovich Moglin (1897 - 1937, perished during the Great Purges) and had a daughter with him, Alexandra Moglina (1923 - 1989). She then married Platon Ivanovich Volkov (1898 - 1936), a Russian Trotskyist. The couple had a son, Vsevolod (diminutive Seva, later Esteban) Volkov, who was born in 1926. Platon Volkov was exiled to Siberia
in 1928, but returned from the exile in the early 1930s. He was re-arrested in 1935 and disappeared in the Gulag
. Zinaida took care of her younger sister Nina, for three months in 1928 while the latter was dying of tuberculosis.
In 1931 Joseph Stalin
allowed Zinaida to leave the Soviet Union
to join her father, Leon Trotsky, in exile. However, she was allowed to take one child with her, Vsevolod. Suffering from tuberculosis and depression, she committed suicide in Berlin
on January 5, 1933. In Zina
, a film by Ken McMullen
, the suggestion is that the relationship between Zinaida and her father, Leon Trotsky, mirrors the Greek tragedy of Antigone
- an idea also substantially developed by the work of the great historian Isaac Deutscher
.
Zinaida's son, Vsevolod, first stayed with Trotsky in Turkey
, then with Trotsky's son Lev Sedov in Germany
, Austria
and finally Paris
. After Lev Sedov's death in 1938, his girlfriend wanted to keep the child. Trotsky sued for custody and won the case, but Sedov's girlfriend went into hiding with the boy. Eventually, Trotsky's friends found Vsevolod and sent him to Mexico, where he re-joined Trotsky. After Trotsky was assassinated by Stalin's agent Ramon Mercader
in 1940, Vsevolod remained in Mexico, adopted the name Esteban (the Spanish equivalent of his name), became an engineer and had four daughters. He is the current custodian of the Trotsky museum in Mexico City
. Vsevolod's daughter, Nora Volkow
, was educated as a physician in Mexico and is now the director of the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse
.
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...
- January 5, 1933, Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
) was a Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n Marxist. She was Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky , born Lev Davidovich Bronshtein, was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and theorist, Soviet politician, and the founder and first leader of the Red Army....
's first daughter by his first wife, Aleksandra Sokolovskaya
Aleksandra Sokolovskaya
Aleksandra Lvovna Sokolovskaya was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and Leon Trotsky's first wife. She perished in the Great Purges no earlier than 1938....
.
Biography
Zinaida Lvovna Bronstein was born in SiberiaSiberia
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...
where her parents were living in exile at the time. As a child, she was mostly raised by Trotsky's parents, David and Anna Bronstein, since her parents parted ways in 1902 and were both revolutionaries with necessarily erratic lifestyles.
After the Russian Revolution of 1917
Russian Revolution of 1917
The Russian Revolution is the collective term for a series of revolutions in Russia in 1917, which destroyed the Tsarist autocracy and led to the creation of the Soviet Union. The Tsar was deposed and replaced by a provisional government in the first revolution of February 1917...
, Zinaida married Zakhar Borisovich Moglin (1897 - 1937, perished during the Great Purges) and had a daughter with him, Alexandra Moglina (1923 - 1989). She then married Platon Ivanovich Volkov (1898 - 1936), a Russian Trotskyist. The couple had a son, Vsevolod (diminutive Seva, later Esteban) Volkov, who was born in 1926. Platon Volkov was 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 1928, but returned from the exile in the early 1930s. He was re-arrested in 1935 and disappeared in the Gulag
Gulag
The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...
. Zinaida took care of her younger sister Nina, for three months in 1928 while the latter was dying of tuberculosis.
In 1931 Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
allowed Zinaida to leave the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
to join her father, Leon Trotsky, in exile. However, she was allowed to take one child with her, Vsevolod. Suffering from tuberculosis and depression, she committed suicide in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
on January 5, 1933. In Zina
Zina (film)
Zina is an award-winning film by director Ken McMullen. It tells a story of a twentieth century Antigone, Zinaida Volkova , daughter of Leon Trotsky. In 1930s Berlin, Zina is being treated by the adlerian psychotherapist Professor Arthur Kronfeld...
, a film by Ken McMullen
Ken McMullen (film director)
Ken McMullen is an award-winning film director and artist living currently in London. His feature films are distributed worldwide, his documentaries broadcast extensively and his art works exhibited in leading contemporary art galleries in Europe, The United States and the Far East...
, the suggestion is that the relationship between Zinaida and her father, Leon Trotsky, mirrors the Greek tragedy of Antigone
Antigone
In Greek mythology, Antigone is the daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta, Oedipus' mother. The name may be taken to mean "unbending", coming from "anti-" and "-gon / -gony" , but has also been suggested to mean "opposed to motherhood", "in place of a mother", or "anti-generative", based from the root...
- an idea also substantially developed by the work of the great historian Isaac Deutscher
Isaac Deutscher
Isaac Deutscher was a Polish-born Jewish Marxist writer, journalist and political activist who moved to the United Kingdom at the outbreak of World War II. He is best known as a biographer of Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin and as a commentator on Soviet affairs...
.
Children
Zinaida's daughter Alexandra remained in the USSR and was raised by her father, Zakhar Moglin. After Moglin's exile in 1932, she was taken care of by her grandmother, Alexandra Sokolovskaya, who was in turn exiled in 1935 and perished in the labor camps. Finally, Alexandra herself was exiled to Kazakhstan, but survived and returned to Moscow after Stalin's death. She died of cancer in 1989.Zinaida's son, Vsevolod, first stayed with Trotsky in Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, then with Trotsky's son Lev Sedov in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
and finally 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...
. After Lev Sedov's death in 1938, his girlfriend wanted to keep the child. Trotsky sued for custody and won the case, but Sedov's girlfriend went into hiding with the boy. Eventually, Trotsky's friends found Vsevolod and sent him to Mexico, where he re-joined Trotsky. After Trotsky was assassinated by Stalin's agent Ramon Mercader
Ramón Mercader
Jaime Ramón Mercader del Río Hernández was a Spanish communist who became famous as the murderer of Russian Communist ideologist Leon Trotsky in 1940, in Mexico...
in 1940, Vsevolod remained in Mexico, adopted the name Esteban (the Spanish equivalent of his name), became an engineer and had four daughters. He is the current custodian of the Trotsky museum in Mexico City
Leon Trotsky Museum, Mexico City
The Leon Trotsky House Museum is a museum honoring Leon Trotsky and an organization that works to promote political asylum, located in the Coyoacán borough of Mexico City. The center of the complex is the house in which Trotsky lived with his wife from 1939 to 1940, and where the Russian dissident...
. Vsevolod's daughter, Nora Volkow
Nora Volkow
Nora Volkow is director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse . She is the great-granddaughter of Russian revolutionary leader and Head of the Fourth International, Leon Trotsky. Her father was the son of Leon Trotsky’s elder daughter.Born in Mexico City, Volkow and her three sisters grew up...
, was educated as a physician in Mexico and is now the director of the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse
National Institute on Drug Abuse
The National Institute on Drug Abuse is a United States federal-government research institute whose mission is to "lead the Nation in bringing the power of science to bear on drug abuse and addiction."-History:...
.