Forgotten lives: the role of Anna, Ol'ga and Mariia Ul'ianova in the Russian revolution 1864-1937. 

PhD thesis. Turton, Katy (2004) 

ABSTRACT
Anna, Ol'ga and Mariia Ul'ianova hold a place in history as Lenin's
sisters, his supporters and helpers, but they played a far greater role in the
Russian revolution and the Soviet regime as revolutionaries and Bolsheviks in
their own right. However, this aspect of their lives has been consistently
overlooked by English-language historians for decades. This thesis aims to
redress this imbalanced portrayal of the UI'ianov women. Although not solely
biographical in nature, it traces Anna, Ol'ga and Mariia's lives from their
childhood and education, through their work in the underground revolutionary
movement to their careers in the Soviet regime. It also investigates the
personality cults that arose around the UI'ianov women and their portrayal in
history since their deaths to the present day. The thesis uses extensive
unpublished primary documents from the RGASPI and GARF archives in
Moscow and contemporary publications such as Pravda and Proletarskaia
revoliutsiia to build a picture of Anna, Ol'ga and Mariia's lives and to interrogate
secondary sources about the sisters.
The thesis draws various conclusions about the Ul'ianov women. 01' ga
died when she was twenty, so she features only in two chapters of the thesis.
Nonetheless it is clear that like Anna and Mariia she was an intelligent and
 welleducated young woman, who devoted herself to the study of revolutionary ideas.
Anna and Mariia joined the underground movement in the early 1890s and,
alongside Lenin, established themselves as competent, dedicated social
democrats. Although the sisters have been portrayed as little more than Lenin's
helpers, this thesis shows that Anna and Mariia had independent revolutionary
careers before 1917, acting as party correspondents, newspaper workers and
agitators. It is also apparent that during the underground years the UI'ianov
family as a whole acted as a mutual support network, exchanging political
information, advice and instructions.
After the revolution, this thesis shows that Anna and Mariia pursued
political careers which reflected their long-held political beliefs. Anna headed
the Department for the Protection of Children, while Mariia spent ten years
leading the Rabsel 'kor movement. Both women had to negotiate the changing 
political times after their brother Lenin's death. While Anna retreated into work
for Istpart, Mariia participated in the power struggles between party fractions,
first supporting Stalin and Bukharin against the oppositionists and then
attempting to defend Bukharin against Stalin's attacks. This thesis investigates
Anna and Mariia' s prolific biographical works on Lenin, finding them to be a
means both of protecting the sisters from Stalin by raising their public profile and
of educating Soviet citizens. Finally this thesis shows how Anna and Mariia's
portrayal while they were alive and after their deaths shifted and changed
according to the political situation, the development of the cult of personality
around Lenin and even the current Soviet model of the ideal woman.
Although focused on the sisters' lives, this thesis also sheds light on the
revolutionary underground, showing how issues that were of crucial importance
to the party's leadership in Europe often appeared insignificant or at odds with
the situation in Russia. The thesis also provides an insight into the working of
the Soviet government and how political relationships from before 1917 had a
great impact on the interactions between government departments and
individuals. Above all, however, this thesis gives Anna, Ol'ga and Mariia their

due place in Bolshevik and revolutionary history.