Video: Unknown Rosa Luxemburg: love dramas of the Valkyries of the Revolution
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
March 5 marks the 146th anniversary of the birth of the famous revolutionary Roses Luxemburg … Contrary to popular belief, the "Valkyrie of the Revolution" was not a staunch feminist and man-hater. In fact, her personal life was no less turbulent than her political one.
Rosalia Luxenburg was born in the Polish town of Zamoć, which at that time was part of the Russian Empire. Social and political activities fascinated her even when she was studying at a girls' gymnasium in Warsaw - the girl opposed the Russification of Polish schools. And at the age of 18, Rosalia was forced to leave Poland because of her participation in the revolutionary circle "Proletariat". She fled to Switzerland, where she studied philosophy, political economy and law at the University of Zurich, and became one of the first women to receive her PhD.
Later, she shortened her name for ease of pronunciation and replaced the letter "n" with "m" in the surname, it turned out "Rosa Luxemburg". She was an unenviable bride. Due to an injury received at birth - a dislocation of the hip joint - she remained lame for life, her height was 150 cm, which, with a disproportionately large head and short legs, was a significant drawback. Rose was transformed only when she spoke at the podium in front of the people. Ill-wishers explained such an excessive political activity of the revolutionary with an inferiority complex. Biographer R. Schneider wrote: “We can say that fate deprived her three times: as a woman in a society dominated by men, as a Jew in an anti-Semitic environment and as a cripple”.
Rosa Luxemburg lived openly with men outside of marriage, not because she was a staunch feminist, but because of the circumstances. In Switzerland, she met Leo Yogiches, who became not only her companion, but also her lover. With him, she participated in the creation of the Social Democratic Party of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania. As it turned out, Rosa is not only a brilliant political speaker, but also a subtle lyricist. The revolutionary wrote letters full of tenderness to her beloved: “If I ever want to remove a couple of stars from the sky in order to give someone for cufflinks, then let the cold pedants not interfere with this and let them not say, shaking my finger, what I bring confusion in all school astronomical atlases ….
Leo was a staunch supporter of free relationships and had no intention of getting married. And Rosa dreamed of a family and children: “Her own little apartment, her own library, joint walks, every summer - a trip to the village for a month, without any work at all! And, maybe, also such a small, very tiny child? Will I never be allowed to do this? Never? Yesterday in the Tiergarten a child of three or four years spun under my feet … Like a thunderbolt I was struck by the thought of grabbing this baby, swiftly running home and leaving him as my own. Oh dear, will I never have a child? " In response to these tirades, Leo wrote: "Your task is not to bear children, you should give yourself to the political struggle!" Rose found the strength to break with him only after 16 years.
At 36, she had a whirlwind romance with the son of her friend and fellow revolutionary Clara Zetkin. He was 14 years younger, but this age difference did not bother anyone. Their relationship lasted 5 years, after which the young man left Rosa for another woman. Even after that, she wrote to him: “You are a beloved friend and you will remain so for me as long as you want, as long as I am alive. Everything that concerns you is more important to me than the rest of the world. I only ask you: stay calm and do not torture yourself because of me. " Her next chosen one - lawyer Paul Levy - was 12 years younger. This relationship did not last long either. After that, Rosa, in despair, declared: "I have no personal life - only a public one."
Rosa Luxemburg was considered one of the most ardent feminists of her time, although she did not have works devoted to this issue - she considered the problem of gender inequality a component of the global problem of class inequality. But she led the life of a real feminist: she graduated from university, received a degree, lived with men outside of marriage, and led revolutionary activities. In addition, she supported the idea put forward by Clara Zetkin to establish International Women's Day.
Rosa Luxemburg once said that she would like to die "at her post - on the street or in prison." Her words were prophetic. After being arrested on the way to prison, the guards beat her with rifle butts, then shot her in the head and threw her body into the canal.
The name of Rosa Luxemburg became synonymous with the revolutionary struggle, and another famous feminist, the world's first female ambassador Alexandra Kollontai
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