Sophia Bardina

Sophia Illarionovna Bardina (15 May 1853 – 26 April 1883) was a Russian revolutionary.

Biography She was born in Morshansk, to a violent father, and turned to her studies for solace. Her family were landowners in Tver province, so she decided to study agronomy so that she could farm the land, rather than live off peasant labour. Bardina went to Moscow and became friends with Olga Liubatovich. Together, they went to study in Zurich., where Bardina was a leading figure in the Fritsche circle of young feminist Russian students, among whom she was known as 'Auntie', "on account of her reliability and diplomatic talents." She was sentenced to 10 years hard labour, later commuted to exile in Siberia. She escaped in 1880 and returned to Switzerland, where she fell seriously ill and died by suicide in Geneva.