EMMA GOLDMAN

Emma Goldman

Emma Goldman

Introduction

Emma Goldman is a political activist who stood for the philosophy of anarchist mainly in North American and Europe. She became famous among the general public when his husband was sentenced for the attempt of murder on Henry C. Frick. After his husband, she became active speaker and advocated to establish U.S anarchism. Besides anarchism movement, she also stood in support of atheism, homosexually, free speech, and feminism. Her role for the support of feminism is especially laudable because it contributed to the development of women place in American culture subsequently.

Discussion

Born in Kovno, Russia (today Lithuania) on 27 July 1869, she was brought up in an orthodox Jewish family. Authoritarian rule of her father and worldwide anti-Semitism at that time, started to influence her greatly. She went to Germany to pursue modern education and developed an admiration for opera, drama, classic music, and extensive literature. She was influenced by the writings of George Bernard Shaw, Walt Whitman, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henrik Ibsen and Anton Chekov which helped her to become a prolific writer. She immigrated to USA in 1885, and after watching the statue of liberty, she got inspired. She had high hopes with western land but work class realities dashed it. She married Alexander Berkman after two of them fell in love with each other. At that time, Johann Most was stronger advocator of 'propaganda of the Deed'. The movement called for violence, to bring change in the system (Chalberg, 1991, 27-28).

Her first public talk for a cause in Rochester allowed her to see the hidden potential within her. She started to improve on her public persona. She along with Berkman started a small business of providing lunch to workers. It was there, when they started a politic movement to support the workers of homestead factor, who ...