The name of the English social activist Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) is little known in our country, and her work has remained poorly studied until recently. Her books were not published in Russian 1 . Such figures of the international proletariat as E. Marx-Eveling, A. Bebel, E. Flynn, G. Pollit and others appreciated the ideological legacy of Wollstonecraft, because it played a certain role in the development of the socialist and labor movement in England, the United States, Germany and other countries.
The first known mention of her in the Russian press dates back to 1827: it was a caustic and ironic note about the new translation of her book "Defending the Rights of Women"published in Paris in 1826 .2 In the 70s of the XIX century, the name Wollstonecraft appeared on the pages of the Russian progressive press 3 . Later, E. V. Tarle, V. M. Khvostov and other specialists wrote about Wollstonecraft; a separate section in S. B. Kahn's work and a special essay in G. Serebryakova's book "Women of the French Revolution"are devoted to her4 .
V. I. Lenin noted that the English working-class movement of the French bourgeois Revolution of the late eighteenth century "brilliantly anticipates much of the future of Marxism." 5 The creative legacy of Wollstonecraft, a friend and associate of T. Payne, W. Godwin, T. Holcroft and other theorists of the radical democratic movement, can serve as a confirmation of this idea. The proximity to the democratic social wing had a decisive influence on Wollstonecraft's worldview and work. A former companion and governess in wealthy homes, then the owner of a private school and the author of several mediocre artistic and pedagogical works, Wollstonecraft gradually turned into a very radical writer after 1789. She wrote eight books and over 400 articles and reviews published in the progressive journal "Analytical Review"in 1788-1797. Wollstonecraft's socio-political views are reflected primarily in her writings "Defending the Rights of M ...
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