Evgenia Iaroslavskaia-Markon

Evgenia Isaakovna Iaroslavskaia-Markon (; 1902–1931) was a Russian radical journalist, lecturer and thief.

Early life Evgenia Isaaknova Iaroslavskaia-Markon was born in St. Petersburg and raised in a prominent Jewish family. Iaroslavskii was a notable Russian biocosmist poet, member of a movement that combined socialism with scientific futurism and that was suppressed by Stalin in the 1930s. Markon's own fate was sealed in her refusal to denounce her husband's views. In her autobiography, Markon speaks of the passionate and devoted love they shared and their mutual respect for each other's beliefs and thoughts.

Lecture tours After marrying, Markon and Iaroslavskii went on a lecturing tour together throughout the USSR, speaking on literary and anti-religious topics.

Her fascination with the world of crime led to her electing criminal behavior and poverty as a lifestyle. After lecturing abroad, her husband wanted to return to Russia. Markon had become happy and comfortable in Paris, France, where she stayed in free, welcoming homeless shelters. She had hoped to get in contact with Nestor Makhno and work with him on revolutionary activity in Ukraine, but eventually returned to Russia in 1928 with her husband.

Criminal activity and arrests Iaroslavskii was arrested when they returned to Russia, and Markon threw herself into the criminal world right away. She continued her practice in the town after she was freed, but was soon arrested again after breaking into and stealing from a store. She was exiled to Siberia in 1929 and moved from village to village, continuing to practice fortunetelling.

She escaped from exile in Siberia and went to Kem, where she plotted to free her husband from prison. She was arrested in 1930 and sent to the Solovetskii camp where she was assigned three years of forced labor. However, after her husband was executed on 10 December 1930, Markon protested at the camp and threw a stone at Dmitrii Vasilevich Uspenskii (a prison warden nicknamed "The Execution Hobbyist") and was then moved to an isolation camp. She was vocal about her disgust for the Soviet regime and her dedication to defend her husband. She attacked guards and attempted suicide twice, and never stopped speaking passionately about her anti-soviet views. She wrote "My Autobiography" in February 1931 when in the isolation camp. She was executed on 16 July 1931. She was disgusted with the Soviet regime and "authoritarian communism" in Russia. In her column for Rul, she wrote.Thus, the efforts of the communist government notwithstanding, independent critical thought has not been crushed; it continues to work, to seek, to find, to become lost, and to seek once more... It has always been thus, and it will continue to be so. She was also antireligious, which she spoke of on her lecture tours, mocking the conflict between religion and communism. In her autobiography, she wrote that she "fell in love with revolution" at the age of 12.