Biography emma goldman in paradise phoenix rebel

Life Story: Emma Goldman

Emma Goldman was born on June 27, 1869 in Kovno, Lithuania. Harsh restrictions on Jewish mobility and economic activity made it almost impossible for many Jews, including the Goldmans, to escape poverty.

Emma had a difficult childhood. Her father was violent and abusive and her mother struggled with depression.

Emma moved with her family to St. Petersburg, Russia, when she was 12 years old. It was there that she first encountered the growing revolutionary movement in Russia and got her first taste of political radicalism.

Biography emma goldman in paradise phoenix rebel series

Soon after, however, she moved to Germany to live with her grandmother and attend school. After only four years in the school, 16-year-old Emma returned to Russia to go to work as a seamstress in a corset factory. In 1885, her father sought to arrange a marriage for her.

She fled the match and her abusive father by immigrating