Olga Akimovna Volkenstein (also spelled Volkenshteyn; ; 27 February 1875 – March 1942) was a Russian journalist, suffragist and a leader of the women's rights movement in pre-revolutionary Russia.
Early life Volkenstein was born in Kishinev on 27 February 1875. Her father was military doctor , who was granted hereditary nobility in 1897, and her mother was Augusta Aronovna Volkestein (). Her younger brother , born in 1876, became a prominent lawyer.
Career Volkenstein worked as a journalist for the newspaper Russian Thought. She was a member of the Saint Petersburg Literary Society. She published under both her own name and various pseudonyms including: V.; V—n, O.; V—ъ, O.; Viktorova, O. I.; O. V.; Olgovich and W—n, O.Masanov I. F. (1960) Dictionary of pseudonyms of Russian writers, scientists and public figures. Vol. 4. Moscow. p. 112.
Activism Volkenstein was a left wing committee member of the Union for Women's Equality,McShane, Anne (2019) Bringing the revolution to the women of the East. The Zhenotdel experience in Soviet Central Asia through the lens of Kommunistka. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow. p. 23. Retrieved 21 March 2025. which demanded equal political and voting rights for women. She hoped to mobilize female factory workers to the cause, was critical of the "well-to-do ladies" of the Union, and organised lecture tours to give talks on the early history of the women's movement.
She served as a delegate to the International Woman Suffrage Alliance (IWSA) Congress in Copenhagen in 1906, and organised the first All-Russian Women's Congress. The Union was succeeded by the League for Women's Equality. Volkenstein also became a member of the Social Revolutionary Party.
Death Volkenstein died in Leningrad, Soviet Union (USSR) in March 1942 and was buried at Piskarevsky Memorial Cemetery.
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