A.K. 47 - Selections from the Works of Alexandra Kollontai

116 - A.K. 47 - Kollontai Seizes the Alexander Nevsky Monastery for War Veterans

Kristen R. Ghodsee Season 5 Episode 5

In this episode, Kristen Ghodsee speaks with professor Page Herrlinger at Bowdoin College about the political ramifications of Alexandra Kollontai's untimely seizure of the Alexandra Nesky monastery on January 19, 1918. As Commissar of Social Welfare, it was Kollontai's responsibility to find a place for the wounded soldiers returning from the front after the armistice of December 1917. She did not expect the fierce resistance she encountered.

Herrlinger is an historian of Russia, and argues that Kollontai fundamentally misunderstood the important role that faith played in the lives of the Russian women Kollontai was trying to emancipate. Herrlinger's forthcoming book, Holy Sobriety in Modern Russia: A Faith Healer and His Followers, will be out in August 2023. 

Send us a text

Thanks so much for listening. This podcast has no Patreon-type account and receives no funding. There are no ads and there is no monetization.

If you would like to support the work being done here, please spread the word, share with your friends and networks, and consider exploring the following links.

Check out Kristen Ghodsee's recent books:


Subscribe to Kristen Ghodsee’s free, episodic newsletter at: https://kristenghodsee.substack.com

Learn more about Kristen Ghodsee's work at: www.kristenghodsee.com

Kristen R. Ghodsee is the award-winning author of twelve books and a professor and chair of Russian and East European Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.

People on this episode