Maria Bezobrazova Explained

Maria Vladimirovna Bezobrazova
Birth Date:1857
Birth Place:Saint Petersburg
Death Date:1914
Death Place:Moscow
Nationality:Russian
Occupation:Philosopher and women's rights activist

Maria Vladimirovna Bezobrazova (1857-1914) was a philosopher, historiographer, educator, journalist and women's rights activist from the Russian Empire. She was "the first among Russian women to receive training in philosophy".[1]

Life

Maria Bezobrazova was born in Saint Petersburg: her father was an economist, and her mother was a writer. She was a founding member of the Russian Women's Mutual Philanthropic Society, taking lecture courses for women from academics including the chemist Dimitri Mendeleev and the botanist Andrei Beketov. She then studied philosophy at the University of Leipzig and the University of Zurich, gaining her doctorate from the University of Berne in 1891. Influenced by Tolstoy, she advocated an 'ethical idealism'.[2]

Bezobrazova wrote for feminist publications, and was active in the Russian women's rights movement throughout her life. She rejected traditional ideas of gender identity and marriage:

Bezobrazova died in Moscow in 1914.[2]

Works

Notes and References

  1. Vasily Kravchenko, Гендерный аспект профессионализации философии в России: историко-философский экскурс (Maria Bezobrazova’s Works: the Background of Gender Researches in Russia), Istoriya filosofii / History of Philosophy Vol. 21, No. 1 (2016).
  2. Book: Rochelle Goldberg Ruthchild. Equality and Revolution. 2010. University of Pittsburgh Pre. 978-0-8229-7375-1. 25.