Anna Filosofova

Born into a wealthy, noble family, she married and they had six children. Initially concerned with the plight of serfs, Filosofova became a feminist in the late 1850s after joining the salon of Maria Trubnikova, who educated her on the subject. Alongside Trubnikova and Nadezhda Stasova, Filosofova was one of the earliest leaders of the Russian women's movement. Together, the three friends and allies were referred to as the "triumvirate". They founded and led several charitable organizations designed to promote women's cultural and economic independence, such as the Society for Cheap Lodgings and Other Benefits for the Citizens of St. Petersburg. Filosofova served as the president of that organization for several years.

Subsequently, the triumvirate pressured government officials to allow higher education for women, resulting in the creation of the courses and the Bestuzhev Courses. Continuing opposition meant that their successes were sometimes limited or reversed. Filosofova also founded a mixed-gender school at her own family's estate. From 1879 to 1881, Filosofova was briefly exiled on suspicion of revolutionary sympathies. After her return to Russia, she continued to work as an activist and philanthropist in support of Russian women. Outliving both Trubnikova and Stasova, she survived to participate in the Russian Revolution of 1905 and chair the first Russian women's congress in 1908, becoming a revered feminist figure. Filosofova died in 1912.

Early life and education Anna Pavlovna Diaghileva was born on 5 April 1837 in Saint Petersburg to a rich and aristocratic family. In 1855, she married , a high-ranking official in the Ministry of War and Defence who was seventeen years her senior. Their first child was born in 1858; they eventually had six, three girls and three boys (including Dmitry, who became a well-known writer).

In contrast to the contemporaneous Russian nihilist movement, Filosofova and the other members of the triumvirate were not radical in public style or fashion, and retained their stations in the good graces of the upper class. Criticized by a nihilist adherent for dressing like "a doll" at an important meeting, Filosofova replied that "clothes do not make the woman", according to Ruthchild. The triumvirate, alongside several other women, founded the Society for Cheap Lodgings and Other Benefits for the Citizens of St. Petersburg in 1859. She also provided support for a proposed large-scale Society for Women's Labor in 1865, but the organization was never incorporated. Although it was initially successful, the cooperative never received governmental approval and suffered financial difficulties after Trubnikova and Stasova went abroad and its bookselling partner went bankrupt. Nevertheless, under Filosofova's management, it lasted until 1879. Filosofova's husband was at that time serving as a chief aide to Milyutin. Tolstoy countered by permitting the classes, but at his own quarters, where he could monitor them. In 1879, she was exiled abroad for raising money for groups "connected with Land and Liberty", per Stites, along with other offenses (such as giving her husband's military coat to an internee being deported to Siberia).

Revolution of 1905 and acclaim Filosofova was elected chairwoman of the International Council of Women in 1899, attending its meeting in London.