In which cemetery is Tsetkin’s body located? "Wild Clara"

Clara Eisner was born on July 5, 1857 in the Saxon city of Widerau, in the family of a German parish school teacher. She received her education at a private pedagogical educational institution in Leipzig, where she became close to a circle of Russian revolutionary emigrant students, including her future common-law husband Osip Zetkin. Involved in the labor and women's movements since 1874, she joined the Socialist Labor Party in 1878. After Otto von Bismarck introduced the Exceptional Law against Socialists in 1881, Clara Zetkin was forced to leave Germany and go first to Zurich, and after visiting Austria and Italy in 1882 - to Paris, where Osip Zetkin, who was expelled from Germany, was at that time. From November 1882, Clara and Osip began to live together in a tiny apartment in Montmarte. At the same time, she changed her maiden name to Zetkin. Their two sons were born there - Maxim and Konstantin. Life was difficult. Osip published for a pittance in left-wing newspapers, and Klara gave lessons and washed clothes for the rich. At the same time, Clara learned revolutionary activities from her friend - Marx's daughter - Laura Lafargue. In 1889, Osip died of tuberculosis. Clara Zetkin played an important role in the founding of the Second International and prepared a speech for its Founding Congress on the role of women in the revolutionary struggle. K. Zetkin and R. Luxenburg The prominent revolutionary Clara Zetkin was able to return to her homeland only after the abolition of the Exceptional Law in 1890. Like her close friend Rosa Luxemburg, she represented the left wing of the SPD and actively exposed the political position of supporters of the reformist views of Eduard Bernstein. She became the editor of the SPD newspaper for women, Equality, and persuaded the founder of the famous electrical engineering concern, Robert Bosch, to finance the newspaper. Editing this newspaper from 1891 to 1917, she turned the Social Democratic women's movement in Germany into one of the strongest in Europe. In 1897, when she was 40 years old, Clara fell in love with a student at the Academy of Arts, artist Georg Friedrich Zundel. He was 18 years younger than her and was the same age as her eldest son Konstantin. Soon they got married. At the same time, 22-year-old son Konstantin became the lover of 36-year-old Rosa Luxemburg. Because of this, Clara was at odds with Rosa for some time. But when Georg abandoned Clara for the young daughter of the founder of the electrical engineering concern Robert Bosch, and his son Konstantin abandoned Rosa, their common grief brought them closer again and they completely immersed themselves in the revolutionary struggle. After Hitler came to power, left-wing parties in Germany were banned, and Zetkin went to the Soviet Union for the last time. Zetkin died on June 20, 1933 in Arkhangelskoye near Moscow. She kept thinking about Rosa Luxemburg, but speech was difficult for her, and her last word was: “Rosa...”. After her death in 1933, she was cremated and her ashes were placed in an urn in the Kremlin wall on Red Square in Moscow.

The names of Clara ZETKIN and Rosa LUXEMBOURG are hardly known to today's youth. Those who managed to study in Soviet schools know them as fiery revolutionaries. To us, these women, who fiercely fought for gender equality, seemed like rabid feminists and man-haters. However, the personal lives of both were no less stormy than their political activities.

Wild Clara

18-year-old graduate of the Leipzig Women's Gymnasium Clara Eissner did not become a brilliant teacher, as her teachers had hoped. A few months after graduation, the girl joined the Social Democratic Party. Her parents were shocked and even wanted to put her under house arrest, but Clara stood firm. Her mentor, a political emigrant from Odessa Osip Zetkin, spoke so colorfully about universal equality and brotherhood that the girl could not tear herself away. He was ugly, but attracted with the power of his intellect. He’s only four years older, but he’s already seen so much! For a long time, Osip mistook the feverish sparkle in Klara’s eyes for a fiery passion for the ideas of the revolution. And when he realized that the girl was in love with him, he tried to explain: they were not gathering here to have affairs. However, Clara, with the ardor inherent in youth, persistently achieved her goal. After all, it was not without reason that she was dubbed “wild.” She received this nickname from friends of her youth for the fervor with which she defended the idea of ​​revolution.

In 1880, Osip was expelled from Germany, and he moved to France. And Clara carried out party assignments in Austria and Switzerland. She tried to break out to her beloved, but she was allowed to leave for Paris only two years later. She immediately found Osip, settled with him and took the surname Zetkin, although the marriage was not officially registered.

Osip did odd jobs, but Klara was not afraid of difficulties. With a difference of two years, she gave birth to two sons - Maxim and Kostya. She worked three jobs, abandoning her political career for a while so that her family would not go hungry. She was only 32 when Osip died of tuberculosis, but she looked 45.

Gray head

After the death of her husband, Clara and her children returned to Germany. She settled in Stuttgart, where she received the position of executive secretary of the newspaper of German workers, Equality. The publication's budget did not allow hiring a permanent artist, so Clara offered temporary work to art academy students. There she met an 18-year-old artist Georg Friedrich Zundel, half her age. A 36-year-old woman, hungry for love, became infatuated with a young man. Moreover, he also showed interest in her. Perhaps Georg was only counting on an easy relationship, but Clara was able to keep him. They got married and their marriage was quite happy. Both had stable incomes. They lived in a spacious house and were the first owners of their own car in the entire area. But after 20 years of marriage, Georg asked for a divorce: he fell in love with a young woman Paulo Bosch- the daughter of the founder of a now world-famous company for the production of household appliances. The Boches used to live next door, but even after moving they maintained friendly relations with Clara and Georg. The artist dreamed of marrying his beloved, but his wife did not let him go. Although she understood that at 58 she was no longer of interest to a 40-year-old man. However, Georg still left Clara, although the divorce was officially filed only after 11 years.

Aging Communist Clara Zetkin At meetings with working women, she discussed not the victory of the working people over world imperialism, but issues of gender and marriage. Handed out brochures with a popular exposition of the theory Freud, touched on sensitive topics. Having learned about this, Vladimir Lenin I was terribly indignant. Like, is now the time to talk about love and courtship?

The world of old feelings and thoughts is bursting at the seams. Problems previously hidden for women have come to light,” Klara objected to the leader of the world proletariat.

Poor Rose

The fifth, youngest child in a family of wealthy Polish Jews, Rosalia Luxenburg was the most inconspicuous. A disproportionate figure, short stature, and even lameness due to a congenital dislocation of the hip. She was the favorite of the whole family, but still grew up with a lot of complexes. Perhaps this made her go into politics. There they saw her not as a woman, but as an intelligent and reliable comrade. In 1890, 19-year-old Rosa, who had already changed her last name to Luxembourg, meets an emigrant from Lithuania Leo Yogihes(underground nickname Jan Tyszka). The irresistible handsome man propagated the ideas of socialism, but the girl was more interested in himself. She was ready to forget about the revolution and become an accommodating wife. But Leo, who favorably accepted the advances of another fan, immediately besieged Rosa: he is a supporter of open relationships, and marriage is a relic of the bourgeois past. This novel was of little interest to the favorite of women, but he was amused by the blind worship of the staunch revolutionary, whom her comrades respected so much.

Tough in political matters, Rosa wrote surprisingly lyrical letters to her beloved: “If I ever want to take a couple of stars from the sky to give to someone for cufflinks, then don’t let cold pedants interfere with this and don’t let them tell me by shaking their fingers at me.” “that I am causing confusion in all school astronomical atlases...” Only after 16 years did Rosa find the strength to break with Yogiches - she was tired of the eternal uncertainty.

Rosa's last love was the son of her friend and colleague Clara Zetkin, Kostya. At first, the 14-year age difference did not bother anyone. 22-year-old Kostya was inspired by Rosa’s fiery speeches. And it seemed to her that at 36 she had finally found female happiness. After five years of a whirlwind romance, Kostya decided to break off the relationship. Rose, with her characteristic intensity, tried to hold on to her lover. His mother also put pressure on him, and she sided with her friend. However, Kostya still left for someone else. And Rosa, completely disappointed in men, completely devoted the rest of her life to politics.

Have you ever wondered who invented International Women's Day or the 8th of March holiday, as we usually call it in Russia? It turns out that this holiday is associated with the name of the famous German revolutionary Clara Zetkin. So who was this woman, and how did the spring holiday, March 8th, come into being?

Clara Zetkin (Tsetkin is the surname of her husband Osip Zetkin, the maiden name of Clara Eissner) was born on June 5, 1857 in Germany. After graduating from the parish school, Clara Eissner entered a private pedagogical lyceum, where she met her future husband Osip Zetkin, who was from Russia. It was Osip who first brought Klara to one of the meetings of revolutionary-minded students - emigrants from Russia. After attending this meeting, Clara was accepted into the circle of socialist revolutionaries.

But the happy life of people in love did not last long. In 1981, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck introduced a law that prohibited socialists from being in Germany. Klara and Osip left Germany that same year. At first they moved to Austria, but life there did not work out, and they had to go to live in France.

As soon as Clara and Osip arrived in France, they immediately legalized their relationship, rented a tiny apartment in Montmartre and lived a quiet and peaceful life. One after another, two sons appeared in a poor family - Maxim and Konstantin. In order to somehow make ends meet, Klara takes a job washing clothes, and Osip tries to publish his articles in left-wing newspapers.

But very soon the Zetkin family meets the daughter of Karl Marx, Laura Lafargue, who, together with her husband Paul, teaches the Zetkin family revolutionary activities. But then great grief came to the Zetkin family - in 1889 Osip Zetkin died of tuberculosis.

After Osip's death, Otto von Bismarck's law was suddenly repealed, and Clara and her sons were able to return to Germany. Together with her close friend Rosa Luxemburg, Clara represented the interests of the Social Democratic Party of Germany. Along with her political work, Clara also fought for women's rights. She tried to introduce laws that a woman has the same rights as a man. She tried to prove to the German government the importance of women in the world of politics and very zealously defended the rights of women to participate in voting during elections. And, of course, Clara and her supporters demanded a relaxation of labor laws for the fairer sex.

On behalf of her party, Clara Zetkin published the women's newspaper "Equality", which very soon became the strongest propaganda newspaper that fought for women's rights in all of Europe.

In 1907, Clara Zetkin created the first International Women's Conference, which was attended by a large number of women from 17 countries. At the very first meeting, Clara proposed creating a new holiday - International Women's Day and celebrating it on March 8th. On this day, according to Clara Zetkin’s idea, women all over the world should attract the public and government to their problems with their speeches. However, the exact day to celebrate this day was never chosen.

In 1897, forty-year-old Clara fell in love. I fell in love deeply, passionately and fieryly. Her chosen one was student Georg Friedrich Zundel. He was eighteen years younger than Clara, but this age difference did not stop them from getting married and becoming a fairly happy family. But the family idyll did not last long. Clara and Georg were never able to find common views on the First World War. Clara condemned this unnecessary massacre, but Georg, on the contrary, was delighted with the opportunity to fight and very soon went to the front.

After the war, Georg asked Clara for a divorce, but she remained adamant for a very long time and only at the age of 71 agreed to sign all the documents that granted Georg the long-awaited freedom.

But then Hitler came to power, and Clara’s life became simply unbearable. He banned all left-wing parties, and Clara was forced to emigrate to the Soviet Union.

Clara Zetkin died on June 20, 1933 in the village of Arkhangelskoye, near Moscow. Her body was cremated, and her ashes, placed in an urn, are located in the Kremlin wall on Red Square in Moscow.

It is known that the author of the idea of ​​International Women's Day is revolutionary Clara Zetkin, whose ashes rest in the Kremlin wall. But why did she choose March 8 for this holiday? Deacon Kuraev found the answer to this question. He devoted an entire book to his research, “How to Make an Anti-Semite,” where the central place was occupied by the chapter “Is it possible not to celebrate March 8?”

“Clara Zetkin is Jewish,” we read. “And therefore, when the party set the task of coming up with a women’s holiday, Clara Zetkin remembered Esther... The annual and most joyful holiday of the Jewish people, the holiday of Purim, is dedicated to Esther... For Clara Zetkin, Purim is not was just a book memory. This is something that has been in the consciousness of a Jew since childhood... So is the assumption groundless that in the minds of the Jewish leaders of the International the women's revolutionary movement was associated with the name of Esther, and March 8 was chosen by them because of their habit of celebrating on these days? family holiday Purim?.. Purim is celebrated just at the turn from winter to spring on the 13th of Adar (this month of the Jewish calendar falls at the end of February - beginning of March). The Jews maintain the lunar calendar, and therefore the time of the celebration of Purim slides in relation to our solar calendar. (as, indeed, Christian Easter and all the moving holidays associated with it. - V.K.) Perhaps in the year when the decision was made to start celebrating International Women's Day, the holiday of Purim fell on March 8th. For a revolutionary to change the date of the holiday every year would be both inconvenient and too revealing. And therefore, it was decided to separate the celebration of the Destroyer Woman from the Purim holiday, to fix it, and annually on March 8, regardless of lunar cycles, to call on all the peoples of the earth to glorify the Warrior Woman. Glorify Esther. That is, congratulations on Purim (even without realizing it)."

The harmony of this scheme is destroyed by one thing: Clara Zetkin was not a Jew herself, and there was not a single Jew in her family, unless, of course, you count Adam and Eve, who are our ancestors. Moreover, Clara's father Gottfried Eisner served as a teacher at the parish high school, where he taught children reading, writing, arithmetic and... the law of God. He also played the organ in the local church, and little Clara helped him. And when, in her declining years, she visited her native village, she asked to open the church for her and sat at the organ for more than an hour, completely alone. These were her childhood memories...

The surname with which Clara went down in history belongs to her husband, Osip Zetkin, a Narodnaya Volya member from Russia who fled to Germany from persecution by the Tsarist secret police. In Berlin, in a student circle, he met Clara. At the same time he joined the Social Democratic Party, for which he was exiled to Paris. Clara followed him, and in 1882 they got married. Their marriage was happy, but short-lived: in 1889 Osip died of tuberculosis of the spinal cord.

More than twenty years have passed. Clara Zetkin had by this time become a prominent figure in the German labor movement. In 1910, she was elected as a delegate to the Second International Socialist Conference, in which representatives of 17 countries took part.

They approved the resolution proposed by Clara Zetkin. It said the following: “In full agreement with the class-conscious political and trade union organizations of the proletariat in every country, socialist women of all countries annually celebrate Women’s Day, which primarily serves to agitate for the granting of suffrage to women. This demand must be put forward as an integral part of everything women's issue in general and in full accordance with socialist views, Women's Day should be given an international character everywhere, and it should be carefully prepared everywhere."

It is quite clear from this resolution that International Women's Day was not intended as a holiday, but as a purely political event. It was and remains such throughout the world, and only in the USSR, after it was declared a non-working day by the Decree of the Supreme Council of May 8, 1965, it became a holiday. Last year in Russia, as always, women were given flowers, perfumes, etc. on March 8, but in the rest of the world this day was dedicated to the fight against violence, which women are still subjected to even in very civilized countries, and was held under the auspices UN. This year it is dedicated to the unity of women in the struggle for peace. The official name of March 8 in the UN calendar of observances is: “Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace.”

Back in 1910, at the suggestion of Elena Grünberg, a member of the Central Committee of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (also a purebred German, by the way), the date was adopted: March 19! But not in honor of Purim, but in memory of the victory of the Berlin workers in the revolutionary battles on the barricades in 1848! In 1911, International Women's Day was celebrated for the first time on March 19 in Germany, Austria, Denmark and Switzerland. But the very next year it took place in the same countries on May 12. In 1913, things turned out completely different: in Germany they celebrated on March 12, in Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Switzerland, Holland - on March 9, in France and Russia - on March 2. This was explained by purely organizational difficulties, completely unrelated to the lunar calendar. So that the deacon no longer has any doubts and to cool his overheated imagination, I give the dates of the celebration of Purim in the same years: in 1911 - March 14, in 1912 - March 3, in 1913 - 23 and in 1914 . - March 12. But International Women's Day was celebrated everywhere on March 8 only in 1914, because it was a Sunday, and it was fixed on this date.

Best of the day

Historically, Women's Day was conceived as a day for women around the world to stand up for their rights. It was invented by feminists.

The full name of the holiday March 8 is International Day for Women's Rights and International Peace. And the date March 8 was chosen thanks to an old German legend.

In the Middle Ages, in Germany, as in many other countries, the rule of the first night was in effect. That is, serf girls getting married had to give their virginity not to their husband, but to their master.

And in one village there was a big holiday: eight girls were being given in marriage, and by a strange coincidence they all bore the name Martha. Seven girls, one after another, entered the master’s bedchamber, but the eighth refused. She was captured and forcibly brought to the castle. Undressing, Martha grabbed a knife from the folds of her shirt and killed her master. She told her beloved everything, after which the couple ran away and lived happily ever after.

This legend, as an example of a woman’s first challenge against her lack of rights, was told by Clara Zetkin in 1910 at a meeting of socialist women in Copenhagen. In honor of this girl - the eighth March - Clara Zetkin and her friend Rosa Luxemburg proposed establishing an international women's day, on which women around the world would organize rallies and marches, attracting the public to their problems.

It is precisely these, zealous revolutionaries and political ideologists, that we imagine Clara Zetkin and Rosa Luxemburg from their lessons in the Soviet school. However, first of all, they were women and, in addition to success in their political careers, they wanted to love and be loved.

Clara Zetkin - biography

He was not rich or handsome, but he spoke so ardently and passionately about equality and brotherhood that eighteen-year-old Clara fell madly in love. In addition, Osip was several years older and more experienced than her, and was also hiding from unfair persecution by the Russian authorities. Why not the romantic hero of Schiller's ballads, which Clara read at night?

Klara and Osip Zetkin were great friends until at one of the meetings the handcuffs snapped on Osip’s hands. Before he was deported from Germany, he managed to shout to Clara that he loved her, which completely broke the girl’s heart. Two long years passed, spent by Clara Zetkin in political speeches and searching for her beloved, before she found the thin and sick Osip in a dirty room on the outskirts of Paris.

Due to illness, the man could not work, so he devoted all his time to writing revolutionary articles. Like any woman, Clara Zetkin was delighted at the opportunity to be needed and rushed to save her beloved. With the same wild energy with which she made political speeches from the stands (it was not for nothing that she was nicknamed Wild Clara), the young woman set to work.

She hired herself as a governess in a rich house, worked part-time as a laundress, and the rest of the time she gave private lessons or did translations. Osip was happy with this situation. He didn't even ask Clara to marry him. However, in a communist environment, marriage was considered a bourgeois relic. Clara took her husband's surname and became Clara Zetkin. She gave birth to two sons, Maxim and Konstantin. Seven years later, Osip died of tuberculosis.

Exhausted by backbreaking work and the grief that befell her, at 32 years old, Clara Zetkin looked 50: gray hair, hunched back, rough red hands. Even party comrades, who saw Klara as a comrade and like-minded person, were surprised at how little femininity remained in this still strong-willed woman. A doctor he knew diagnosed Zetkin with nervous exhaustion.

Left alone with two children in her arms and without a means of livelihood, Clara and her sons returned to Germany, having borrowed money for a ticket from her brother. Work in the newspaper of German workers "Equality" brought her together with 18-year-old artist Georg Zundel. Despite the fact that Georg was half her age, Clara Zetkin attracted him first to the political movement and then to her bed. However, Zundel did not particularly resist. They merried.

This marriage was opposed by party comrades, including August Bebel, who was afraid that due to an unequal marriage, Clara would become a laughing stock in the eyes of the people. But Zetkin acted all her life as she saw fit. In addition to the ability to persuade, she also knew how to make money. The couple lived in a nice mansion near Stuttgart and soon bought almost the first car in the area, and then a small house in Switzerland.

This time Clara Zetkin lived in marriage quite happily and for a long time: for twenty whole years, until one day Georg announced that he was leaving for a young mistress. No matter how much oratorical art Clara possessed, at 58 years old she could not resist the charms of her young rival. Once again heartbroken, the woman devoted all her strength to the political struggle. And at the same time she became friends with her colleague Rosa Luxemburg.

Rosa Luxemburg-biography

The only thing that saved her was special, custom-made boots, on which Luxembourg depended almost like air. If you walk slowly, the lameness was almost unnoticeable, but it’s a different matter when you start to hurry. Then you become like an old duck. And it’s completely impossible to walk barefoot, without shoes.

It is clear that the girl did not enjoy the attention of the opposite sex. Even her mother, who doted on Rosa, instilled in her from childhood that she needed to rely only on herself, because Rosalia was unlikely to be able to marry successfully. The girl went to study in Warsaw, where she became interested in the social democratic ideas that were fashionable at that time. She liked that members of the underground movement valued her intelligence, oratory skills and dedication to her work, and did not ridicule her appearance flaws, as her classmates once did.

19-year-old Rosa Luxemburg liked one of the socialists not only as a talented propagandist. An emigrant from Lithuania, Jan Tyszka, was smart and incredibly handsome. For Rosa, he became a real idol. She decided to tell him about her feelings and even swore that she would give up revolutionary activities and become a housewife just to be near him. In response to these naive words, Tyshka laughed and said that marriage was a relic of the past. However, he was flattered by the blind devotion of the young woman, whom the Social Democrats respected so much. And he condescended to be a small, ugly fan, though without burdening himself with any promises. It took Rose sixteen years of jealousy and suffering before she decided to break this connection.

The new hobby of 36-year-old Rosa Luxemburg was... 22-year-old Konstantin Zetkin, the son of her friend and colleague Clara Zetkin, which for the first time caused a quarrel between the friends. Despite the age difference, their romance lasted for many years.

For gender equality

Clara Zetkin and Rosa Luxemburg renewed their friendship many years later, when both became single again and decided to devote themselves to politics. One day they read the works of the young Marxist Vladimir Ulyanov, which amazed them. The ladies wanted to meet him personally and went to St. Petersburg. But on the way, the friends were robbed. Having no idea what to do next, they went into a tavern, where they saw men playing cards.

Clara played cards excellently and decided to earn some money. But the men only ridiculed her, saying that it was a woman’s job to give birth to children and milk cows. All night long, ideological comrades, outraged by male chauvinism, reshaped the men's suit they had obtained and made mustaches and sideburns from Rosa's cut lock of hair.

The next day, Clara Zetkin, disguised as a man, beat gamblers for a very large sum for those times - 1,200 rubles. The women easily reached St. Petersburg, met Ulyanov, and since then have often visited Russia.

Rosa and Clara dedicated their lives to the fight for women's rights. At meetings, Zetkin and Luxemburg discussed issues of marriage and the intimate side of married life, and talked about Freud’s theory. Being women to the tips of their nails, they always condemned terror and carnage. Rosa Luxemburg was repeatedly arrested for her sharp attacks against the war with Russia.

The last time this happened was in 1919, when, after interrogation at the Eden Hotel, she was beaten with rifle butts by guards. Tired of mocking the unfortunate woman, the soldiers shot her in the temple and threw her body into the Lanver Canal, where it was discovered only a few months later.

Clara Zetkin outlived her friend Rosa Luxemburg by 14 years. She was a member of the German Communist Party and openly opposed fascism, for which she was regularly sent into exile. Becoming disabled and almost blind. Zetkin did not give up politics. She worked hard, devoting her time to writing journalistic articles.

Clara Zetkin was going to write a biography of her friend Rosa Luxemburg and her autobiography, but did not have time. Accustomed to relying on her own strength and considering it inappropriate to use the services of a secretary, Clara wrote and wrote, in a hurry to express her ideas. Sometimes the ink ran out, but the blind woman continued to write page after page with a dry pen...

Clara Zetkin spent a lot of time in Russia and maintained friendly relations with Lenin and Krupskaya. Here she found her final refuge. Zetkin died in 1933 near Moscow. In recent years, she often thought about Rose. Eyewitnesses say that just before her death, Clara even called her friend by name.