{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2015}} {{Infobox musical artist |name = Vi Subversa |image = poisongirls.jpg |caption = Subversa performing in 1982 |background = solo_singer |birth_name = |alias = |birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1935|6|20}} |death_date = {{death date and age|2016|2|19|1935|6|20|df=y}} |birth_place = London, England, United Kingdom |instrument = Vocals, guitar |genre = Anarcho punk |occupation = Musician, singer |years_active = 1975–2016 |label = Crass, XNTrix, Cooking Vinyl |associated_acts = Poison Girls, Crass }}
'''Frances Sokolov''' (20 June 1935 – 19 February 2016),<ref name=death>{{cite web|author=Ged Babey|url=http://louderthanwar.com/vi-subversa-20th-june-1935-19th-february-2016-flesh-and-blood-is-what-we-are|title=Vi Subversa: 20th June 1935 – 19th February 2016: Flesh and blood is what we are|publisher=LouderThanWar|date=20 February 2016|access-date=20 February 2016}}</ref> better known by her stage name '''Vi Subversa''', was the lead singer, lyricist and rhythm guitarist of British anarcho-punk band Poison Girls.<ref>Raha, Maria. ''Cinderella's big score: women of the punk and indie underground''. Seal Press, 2005. p. 67.</ref>
==Biography== Subversa was born of Ashkenazi Jewish parents. She spent two years in Israel in the late 1950s working in a ceramic pottery in Beersheba under Nehemia Azaz,<ref>{{cite news|last1=Grant|first1=Brigit|title=Subversive? On the contrary|publisher=Jewish Chronicle|date=25 July 1986|page=15|url=http://archive.thejc.com/search/pages.jsp?issue=JULY%2025%201986|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160112043835/http://archive.thejc.com/search/pages.jsp?issue=JULY%2025%201986|archive-date=12 January 2016|df=dmy-all}}</ref> before returning to the United Kingdom. She had two children, Pete Fender (born Daniel Sansom, 1964) and Gem Stone (born Gemma Sansom, 1967), who both became members of the punk bands Fatal Microbes and Rubella Ballet.<ref name="Glasper">Glasper, Ian (2006) ''The Day the Country Died: A History of Anarcho Punk 1980 - 1984'', Cherry Red Books, {{ISBN|978-1-901447-70-5}}</ref>
Subversa's first public performance was at The Body Show at Sussex University in 1975. In 1979, at 44 years old and a mother of two, she released her first single with the Poison Girls.<ref>Cope, Julian. [http://www.headheritage.co.uk/unsung/albumofthemonth/1885 Album of the Month #96]. ''Head Heritage''. 2007.</ref> Her lyrics were written from a radical feminist punk perspective.<ref>Leblanc, Lauraine. [https://books.google.com/books?id=nU7Cl6HxIbAC&dq=vi+subversa+punk&pg=PA49 ''Pretty in Punk'']. Rutgers University Press. 1999.</ref>
She is featured in the documentary film ''She's a Punk Rocker''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://raindance.co.uk/site/index.php?id=89,911,0,0,1,0 |title=She's A Punk Rocker | Raindance Film Festival 2007 |publisher=Raindance.co.uk |date=7 October 2007 |access-date=2011-09-27}}</ref>
Subversa's last musical venture was with the cabaret trio Vi Subversa's Naughty Thoughts, which she formed with Michael Coates and Judy Bayley. She played her final live performance with Naughty Thoughts at Brighton's Green Door Store on 5 December 2015, with The Cravats.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/vi-subversa-inspirational-elder-stateswoman-of-punk-who-co-founded-poison-girls-denizens-of-its-a6889691.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220817/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/vi-subversa-inspirational-elder-stateswoman-of-punk-who-co-founded-poison-girls-denizens-of-its-a6889691.html |archive-date=17 August 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Vi Subversa: Inspirational elder stateswoman of punk who co-founded Poison Girls, denizens of its anarchist fringe |last1=Salewicz |first1=Chris |date=23 Feb 2016 |website=The Independent |access-date=23 February 2016}}</ref>
Subversa's son Pete Fender announced on Facebook on 19 February 2016 that she had died, following a short illness.<ref name=death/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [http://www.poisongirls.co.uk/vi-subversa-what-a-life.html vi subversa - what a life] Official Poison Girls Website
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Subversa, Vi}} Category:1935 births Category:2016 deaths Category:20th-century anarchists Category:20th-century British guitarists Category:20th-century British Jews Category:20th-century British women singers Category:21st-century anarchists Category:21st-century British guitarists Category:21st-century British Jews Category:21st-century British women singers Category:Anarcha-feminists Category:Anarcho-punk musicians Category:Artists from Beersheba Category:British anarchists Category:British Ashkenazi Jews Category:British expatriates in Israel Category:British feminists Category:British political music artists Category:British punk rock guitarists Category:British women punk rock singers Category:Feminist musicians Category:Jewish anarchists Category:Jewish English musicians Category:Jewish women singers Category:Jews in punk rock Category:Musicians from Brighton Category:Musicians from London Category:Radical feminists
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