# Maria Subbotina

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Maria_Subbotina
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Maria_Subbotina.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Subbotina
> Source revision: 1356993049
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

**Maria Dmitrievna Subbotina** (Russian: Мария Дмитриевна Субботина; 1854–1878) was a [Russian](/source/Russians) [Narodnik](/source/Narodniks) [revolutionary](/source/Revolutionary). Born into a noble family in the [Oryol](/source/Oryol_Governorate), she was educated in [Moscow](/source/Moscow) and moved abroad to study medicine at the [University of Zurich](/source/University_of_Zurich). In Switzerland, she became involved in the [socialist](/source/Socialism) circles led by [Pyotr Lavrov](/source/Pyotr_Lavrov) and [Mikhail Bakunin](/source/Mikhail_Bakunin), the latter of whom she followed to [Zagreb](/source/Zagreb) in order to organise among [Serbian nationalists](/source/Serbian_nationalism) planning the [Herzegovina uprising](/source/Herzegovina_uprising_(1875%E2%80%931877)). In 1874, she returned to Russia, where she began organising factory works in [Ivanovo](/source/Ivanovo) and [Moscow](/source/Moscow). She was arrested for her activities and tried in the [Trial of the 50](/source/Trial_of_the_50), which sentenced her to exile in [Siberia](/source/Siberia), although her sentence was lessened to exile in the [Volga region](/source/Volga_region), as she had fallen seriously ill. She died of [tuberculosis](/source/Tuberculosis) while in exile in [Novouzensk](/source/Novouzensk).

## Biography

Maria Dmitrievna Subbotina was born in 1854, in the village of [Podvorgolskoye](/source/Izmalkovo,_Lipetsk_Oblast), in the [Oryol Governorate](/source/Oryol_Governorate) of the [Russian Empire](/source/Russian_Empire).[1] She was the second daughter of a noble landowner,[2] Dmitrii Subbotin,[1] who died shortly after the birth of his youngest daughter [Nadezhda](/source/Nadezhda_Subbotina), leaving his children with a considerable inheritance. The girls' mother, [Sofya Subbotina](/source/Sofya_Subbotina), endeavoured to provide them with the best possible education,[3] enrolling them at a girls' school in [Moscow](/source/Moscow) in 1868.[2]

She never formally graduated from school,[1] as in 1872, she decided to follow her older sister [Evgeniia](/source/Evgeniia_Subbotina) and her friend [Anna Toporkova](/source/Anna_Toporkova) in travelling abroad to [Zürich](/source/Z%C3%BCrich), where she enrolled in the medical faculty of the [University of Zurich](/source/University_of_Zurich).[2] She quickly came to dislike life in [Switzerland](/source/Switzerland), remarking that "in despotical Russia life is easier. There is not this depressing atmosphere of routine and habit as here in "free" Switzerland".[4] There she joined a Russian student circle led by [Pyotr Lavrov](/source/Pyotr_Lavrov), who she became a follower of, working as a typesetter for his magazine *[Vpered](/source/Vpered!_(1873))*.[5] She also joined the *Fritschi* women's group.[6]

When the Tsarist government issued a ban on women studying in Zürich, in 1874, she moved to [Paris](/source/Paris), in order to pursue her medical studies at [Sorbonne University](/source/Sorbonne_University).[7] But she did not graduate,[8] as the [anarchist](/source/Anarchism) revolutionary [Mikhail Bakunin](/source/Mikhail_Bakunin) had invited her to [Zagreb](/source/Zagreb) in order to work with local [Serbian nationalists](/source/Serbian_nationalism), who were in the middle of preparations for the [Herzegovina uprising](/source/Herzegovina_uprising_(1875%E2%80%931877)).[9] She and [Olga Lyubatovich](/source/Olga_Lyubatovich), both followers of Bakunin, travelled to the Balkans,[10] where they joined a local Serbian [socialist](/source/Socialism) organisation.[8]

Together with other women from the Zürich socialist group, she subsequently returned to Russia,[11] where they took up political activism. Together with [Varvara Alexandrova](/source/Varvara_Alexandrova) and Anna Toporkova, she went to work in a factory in [Ivanovo](/source/Ivanovo) and lived together in Toporkova's flat.[12] Subbotina was implicated in the [Trial of the 193](/source/Trial_of_the_193) due to her mother's arrest in September 1874. She was initially prevented from leaving the [Kursk Governorate](/source/Kursk_Governorate), but by 19 February 1876, she had been [acquitted](/source/Acquittal) due to a lack of evidence.[8]

During this time, she moved to [Moscow](/source/Moscow), where she joined the [All-Russian Socialist-Revolutionary Organisation](/source/All-Russian_Socialist-Revolutionary_Organisation). She fell ill with [tuberculosis](/source/Tuberculosis), so was unable to actively participate in its propaganda activities, but oversaw the supplying of propagandists with money and books.[13] On 12 August 1875,[14] her flat in [Ivanovo](/source/Ivanovo) was raided and she was arrested together with Alexandrova and Toporkova.[15] Subbotina was transferred to Moscow, where she was incarcerated in [Butyrka prison](/source/Butyrka_prison) while awaiting trial.[13] After attempting [suicide](/source/Suicide) due to the harsh conditions of her imprisonment, her condition worsened and she was granted [compassionate release](/source/Compassionate_release) in 1876.[16]

Before long, she had joined back up with the [Narodniks](/source/Narodniks) and participated in the founding of the [Land and Liberty](/source/Land_and_Liberty_(Russia)#The_second_composition_(1876-1879)) organisation. On 30 November 1876, she was named as a participant in subversive anti-government activities in the [Trial of the 50](/source/Trial_of_the_50), which saw her arrested again and confined in [pre-trial detention](/source/Pre-trial_detention). On 14 March 1877, she was found guilty of belonging to an illegal political organisation and sentenced to exile in the [Tomsk Governorate](/source/Tomsk_Governorate), where she would be deprived of her rights and prevented from leaving the province. However, due to the circumstances of her illness, on 14 August 1877, the court accepted an appeal to replace her sentence with exile to the [Samara Governorate](/source/Samara_Governorate). In autumn of 1877, she was transferred to [Novouzensk](/source/Novouzensk), where she died from tuberculosis on 8 February 1878.[13]

## References

1. Shilov & Karnaukhova 1932, p. 1637.

1. Porter 1976, p. 129; Shilov & Karnaukhova 1932, p. 1637.

1. Porter 1976, p. 129.

1. Porter 1976, p. 130.

1. Porter 1976, p. 140; Shilov & Karnaukhova 1932, p. 1637.

1. Engel & Rosenthal 1992, p. 102n2; Shilov & Karnaukhova 1932, p. 1637.

1. Porter 1976, p. 142; Shilov & Karnaukhova 1932, pp. 1637–1638.

1. Shilov & Karnaukhova 1932, pp. 1637–1638.

1. Porter 1976, p. 144.

1. Porter 1976, p. 144; Shilov & Karnaukhova 1932, pp. 1637–1638.

1. Porter 1976, pp. 144, 146; Shilov & Karnaukhova 1932, pp. 1637–1638.

1. Porter 1976, p. 146.

1. Shilov & Karnaukhova 1932, p. 1638.

1. Porter 1976, p. 148; Shilov & Karnaukhova 1932, p. 1638.

1. Porter 1976, p. 148.

1. Porter 1976, pp. 148–149; Shilov & Karnaukhova 1932, p. 1638.

## Bibliography

- Engel, Barbara Alpern & Rosenthal, Clifford N. (eds.) (1992 [1975]). *Five Sisters: Women Against the Tsar*. [Routledge](/source/Routledge). ISBN 0-415-90715-2.
- Porter, Cathy (1976). [*Fathers and Daughters: Russian Women in Revolution*](https://books.google.com/books?id=g0wFAQAAIAAJ). [London](/source/London): [Virago Press](/source/Virago_Press). ISBN 0-704-32802-X. [OCLC 2288139](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/2288139)
- Shilov, A. A. & Karnaukhova, M. G. (eds.) (1932). ["Субботина, Мария Дмитриевна"](https://viewer.rsl.ru/ru/rsl01003048063?page=129) [Subbotina, Maria Dmitrievna] (in Russian). *[Деятели революционного движения в России](/source/%D0%94%D0%B5%D1%8F%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B8_%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%8E%D1%86%D0%B8%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B3%D0%BE_%D0%B4%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B6%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%8F_%D0%B2_%D0%A0%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%81%D0%B8%D0%B8)*. Vol. 4. [Moscow](/source/Moscow): [Society of Former Political Prisoners and Exiled Settlers](/source/Society_of_Former_Political_Prisoners_and_Exiled_Settlers). pp. 1637–1639. [OCLC 749336544](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/749336544)

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Maria Subbotina](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Subbotina) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Subbotina?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.