2-378-171 - Historica Graphica Collection/Heritage Images

Catherine Breshkovsky, Russian revolutionary activist, early 20th century. Known as the 'Grandmother of the Russian Revolution' Catherine Breshkovsky (1844-1934) was originally a follower of the anarchist Mikhail Bakunin, then a member of the Narodnik revolutionary movement. She was imprisoned in 1874 and exiled to Siberia from 1878-1896. After her relase she became one of the founders of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party. In 1905 Breshkovsky was again exiled to Siberia, where she remained until the February Revolution of 1917, after which she was released and given a seat in the Provisional Government of Alexander Kerensky. After the Bolsheviks seized power in October 1916 she fled Russia, dying in exile in Czechoslovakia in 1934.