Those who have been following my blog know that my biography of Angelica Balabanoff The Strange Comrade Balabanoff: The Life of a Communist Rebel will 
be published at the end of April by McFarland Publishers. To mark this pulication I decided to devote my blog to Angelica, her friends, passtime and recipes. I hope you liked my previous articles within the series “Red Rebels” about her friends Raya Dunaevskaya, Bianca Tosoni-Pittoni and others, about Angelica writing poems in five languages and the recipe of the only meal she could make – an omelet. No doubt an important event in Angelica’s live was the October Revoltuion of 1917. The first part of her life has been devoted to organising this event, while during the second part of her life she became dissilutioned with it and devoted the rest of her life to fighting it and what was going on in her country.
In about 18 months Russia will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the October 1917 Revolution. It will certainly be an occasion to arouse controversy and emotion. The Revolution was one of the defining moments of the 20th Century. It brought the establishment of a Communist regime, millions lost their lives or fled their homes to go and live overseas. It is not yet certain how Russia’s contemporary leaders will mark the centennial. During the Cold War, the Soviet government ensured that its revolutionary victory was celebrated as a most important holiday supported by the media and the entire population. Today in Russia many critisize the Revolution while Vladimir Putin with his current policy often seeks to reestablish the glory of the Russian Empire. While it will be impossible to ignore this event, the best possible solution would be to try and understand the historical importance of October Revolution. When celebrating the event Russia the governement will have to both acknowledge its negative consequences and emphasise the good it did for the country.
Let me know what you think about the Centennial of the Revoltion and its celebration.
To know more about Angelica please consult the page About Angelica.
Hello Comrade Maria. I look forward to reading your biography of Angelica Balabanoff. I am an anarcho communist/council communist so I would no doubt have been killed or led a very low profile life under Stalin. But I look forward to the centennial of the Revolution in 2017. I think it should be celebrated, preferably by world wide revolution. The 1917 revolution was the bravest, most complete attempt to escape capitalism we have ever seen. I salute those comrades.
Hello Aindriu, the centennial of the Revolution will certainly be an importnant date from all points of view. Hope you’ll like my biography of Angelica Balabanoff. She was an impressive person.