Related Terms • anarchism • freethought

Name:
Emma Goldman

Dates:
Born: June 27, 1869 in Kovno, Lithuania (now Russia)
Died: May 14, 1940 in Toronto, Canada
American Citizenship Revoked: 1908
Convicted of Conspiracy against the Draft: 1917 (2 year prison sentence)

Specialization:
Anarchism
Pacifism
Feminism
Birth Control

Major Works:
The Social Significance of the Modern Drama (1914)
Disillusionment in Russia (1923)
Living My Life (1931)

Biography:
Emma Goldman became famous for her advocacy of both freethought and anarchism. For her, both were connected because she was interested in challenging all levels of authority, political as well as religious. She pursued both as part of her commitment to the principle of individual freedom.

Goldman's commitment to liberty and social justice landed her in trouble a number of times. She was jailed at very points for promoting the use of birth control, for for opposing the draft, and for advising the poor to simply take food if they needed it to survive. She was also accused of conspiring with communists, but she became disillusioned with the communist system set up in Russia.

Also Known As: none

Alternate Spellings: none

Common Misspellings: none

Related Resources:

What is Philosophy?
What is philosophy? Is there any point in studying philosophy, or is it a useless subject? What are the different branches of philosophy - what's the difference between aestheitcs and ethics? What's the difference between metaphysics and epistemology?