After the February Revolution, the fight for women’s suffrage increased, in line with the general call for the implementation of democratic reforms. Along with educated women of the intelligentsia, female workers and peasants also called for the right to vote.
In March 1917, the largest women’s demonstration in Russia’s history took place in Petrograd. Led by Poliksena Shishkina-Iavein, President of the League for Women’s Equal Rights and Russia’s first female gynecologist, and the revolutionary Vera Figner, the march was attended by up to 40,000 women.
In July 1917, women over 20 were given the right to vote and hold public office. The first opportunity to exercise their newly-won right was during elections for the Constituent Assembly in November 1917. In many areas, such as Yaroslavl, the female turnout exceeded that of men.
— Women and the Russian Revolution, by Katie McElvanney
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A Timespace showing the evolution of women's right to vote around the world. Cover image by Giacomo Ferroni. Under construction!
