On This Day

Alexandra Kollontai of Russia becomes the first woman ambassador

Alexandra Mikhailovna Kollontai was a Russian revolutionary, politician, diplomat and Marxist theoretician.

Alexandra Mikhailovna Kollontai was a Russian revolutionary, politician, diplomat and Marxist theoretician. Serving as People's Commissar for Welfare in Vladimir Lenin's government in 1917–1918, she was a highly prominent woman within the Bolshevik party. She was the first woman in history to be a cabinet minister, and one of the first women to be appointed as a diplomatic representative of a modern state, and the first to be promoted to the rank of ambassador.

The daughter of an Imperial Russian Army general, Kollontai embraced radical politics in the 1890s and joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) in 1899. During the RSDLP ideological split, she sided with Julius Martov's Mensheviks against Lenin's Bolsheviks.

Historical Significance

Alexandra Mikhailovna Kollontai was a Russian revolutionary, politician, diplomat and Marxist theoretician.

Events Before

  1. Britain's Railways are grouped into the Big Four: LNER, GWR, SR, and LMS

    The "Big Four" was a name used to describe the four largest railway companies in the United Kingdom in the period 1923–1947.

  2. President of Turkey Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (41) weds Latife Hanim; divorce in 1925

    President of Turkey Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (41) weds Latife Hanim; divorce in 1925

  3. Howard Carter opens the inner burial chamber of Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun's tomb and finds the sarcophagus

    Howard Carter (9 May 1874 – 2 March 1939) was a British archaeologist and Egyptologist who became known for discovering the intact tomb of the 18th Dynasty Pharaoh Tutankhamun in November 1922, the...

  4. Italian actor Rudolph Valentino (24) divorces actress Jean Acker (26)

    Rodolfo Pietro Filiberto Raffaello Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguolla (May 6, 1895 – August 23, 1926), known professionally as Rudolph Valentino or mononymously as Valentino was an Italian-born...

  5. Writer Anaïs Nin (Delta of Venus) marries banker and artist Hugh Parker Guiler in Havana, Cuba

    Writer Anaïs Nin (Delta of Venus) marries banker and artist Hugh Parker Guiler in Havana, Cuba

Events After

  1. Norway's capital, Kristiania, changes its name to Oslo

    Oslo is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality.

  2. Benito Mussolini dissolves the Italian Parliament and proclaims himself dictator of Italy, taking the title Il Duce (the

    Benito Mussolini dissolves the Italian Parliament and proclaims himself dictator of Italy, taking the title Il Duce (the Leader)

  3. Actress Gloria Swanson (25) weds aristocrat Henri de la Falaise (26) in Paris, France

    Actress Gloria Swanson (25) weds aristocrat Henri de la Falaise (26) in Paris, France

  4. Heavyweight boxing champ Jack Dempsey (29) weds actress Estelle Taylor (30)

    Heavyweight boxing champ Jack Dempsey (29) weds actress Estelle Taylor (30)

  5. German lawyer and future Nazi war criminal Hans Frank (24) weds German secretary Brigitte Herbst (29) in Munich, Germany

    German lawyer and future Nazi war criminal Hans Frank (24) weds German secretary Brigitte Herbst (29) in Munich, Germany, until his execution in 1946

More from the 1920s

Frequently Asked Questions

What happened on September 8, 1924?
Alexandra Mikhailovna Kollontai was a Russian revolutionary, politician, diplomat and Marxist theoretician. Serving as People's Commissar for Welfare in Vladimir Lenin's government in 1917–1918, she was a highly prominent woman within the Bolshevik party. She was the first woman in history to be a cabinet minister, and one of the first women to be appointed as a diplomatic representative of a modern state, and the first to be promoted to the rank of ambassador.
Why is Alexandra Kollontai of Russia becomes the first woman ambassador significant?
Alexandra Mikhailovna Kollontai was a Russian revolutionary, politician, diplomat and Marxist theoretician.

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