Authors

Discussion

This presentation outlines the history of the grassroots initiative of the Leningrad underground feminists and focuses particularly on the major issues they raised in their writings.

In 1979, a group of women in Leningrad published the first samizdat Almanac, Woman and Russia, ‘for women and about women’ to give voice to the various problems faced by women in the Soviet Union. Contributions included critiques of the poor conditions in maternity and antenatal clinics, women’s ‘double burden’ of housework and employment, and the humiliation and violence experienced by women in Soviet prisons. Despite a limited print run, a copy of the Almanac was smuggled to the West and it was soon reproduced in France, Italy, Germany, the UK, and other countries. KGB persecution of the contributors to the Almanac began almost immediately, and the women had to change the name and the format of their publication. The magazine Maria was created to replace the Almanac in 1980. The authors of the new publication denounced the Soviet emancipation project, claiming that effective women's liberation was impossible without Christianity. In spring 1980, the discussion club ‘Maria’ was created to provide a platform for women’s debate.