Praskovia Naumovna Arian (Russian: Прасковья Наумовна Ариян (Ариан)),[1] née Belenkaia, (Russian: Беленькая; c. 1864 – 28 March 1949) was a Russian writer, translator, feminist and educator. She founded the annual First Women's Calendar (Pervyi Zhenskii KalendarRussian: Первый женский календарь) covering women's issues in Russia and later the First Women’s Technical Institute (Pervyi Zhenskii Politekhnicheskii InstitutRussian: Первый женский политехнический институт). She wrote articles under the pseudonym "Ar." (Russian: Ар.).[2] In the 1930s she taught courses for workers at the Kirov Plant in Leningrad.

Praskovia Naumovna Belenkaia Arian
Born12 April 1864 or 1865
St. Petersburg, Russian Empire
Died28 March 1949
Moscow, Soviet Union
Pen name"Ar." (Russian: Ар.)
OccupationColumnist, editor, publisher, educator
NationalityRussian
Period1884–1930s
SubjectWomen's rights and education
Notable worksFirst Women's Calendar

Life

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Arian was born to Jewish parents in either 1864 or 1865 in St. Petersburg, the capital of the Russian Empire. While a student in the physics and mathematics section of the St Petersburg Bestuzhev Higher Women’s Courses (Vysshie Zhenskie (Bestuzhevskie) Kursy), Arian became radicalized. She completed her coursework, but failed to take her final exams. The date of her marriage to process engineer Miron Isaevich Arian (Russian: Мирон Исаевич Ариян) is unknown.[3]

Work

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Arian was a translator and journalist, writing for a variety of publications including Stock Market Gazette (Birzhevye VedomostiRussian: Биржевые ведомости) and Art and Life (Iskusstvo i Zhizn’), to name just two. She founded a daycare center for workers in St. Petersburg in 1884 and worked there for the next decade. In 1889, she founded the First Women's Calendar covering a wide range of issues of interest to women, including coverage of the major feminist organization and their congresses. Published annually until 1915, Arian was the publisher, editor and compiler of the Calendar. The writer Maxim Gorky, the radical activist Vera Figner, the artist Ilia Repin and the psychologist Vladimir Bekhterev all contributed to the Calendar.[4]

First Women's Calendar

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Translations

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  • Вотель, Клеман. «Я - заядлый буржуй» (French: «Je suis un affreux bourgeois»): Роман / Клеман Вотель ; Пер. с франц. П. Н. Ариян. - Ленинград : Книжные новинки, [1926]. - 218, [2] с.;
  • Маргерит, Виктор. «Молодые девушки» (French: «Jeunes Filles»): Роман / Виктор Маргерит ; Пер. с франц. П. Н. Ариян. - Ленинград ; Москва : Петроград, [1927]. - 173 с.;
  • Шеро, Гастон. «Капризы судьбы» = «Le Vent du destin» : [Рассказы] / Гастон Шеро ; Пер. с франц. П. Ариян, В. Нибиэри. - Ленинград ; Москва : Книга, [1927] (М. : тип. М.К.Х. им. Ф. Я. Лаврова). - 111 с.;

Notes

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References

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  • Ruthchild, Rochelle Goldberg (2005). "Arian, Praskov'ia Naumova Belenkaia". In Haan, Francisca de; Daskalova, Krassimira; Loutfi, Anna (eds.). Biographical Dictionary of Women's Movements and Feminisms in Central, Eastern, and South Eastern Europe : 19th and 20th Centuries. New York: Central European University Press. ISBN 978-963-7326-39-4.