Generally, Emma Goldman is referred to as an American Anarchist. However, as a young girl growing up in Russia, it was Russian socialist Nikolai Chernyshevsky (1826-1889) who first asked Emma the perspicacious question, what is to be done?
Chernyshevsky was a Russian socialist during the 19th century. A notable radical journalist known for criticizing liberals, he believed liberalism only benefitted the wealthy upper-class. After his arrest in July of 1862 for criticizing Russian government, Chernyshevsky wrote the revolutionary classic novel What Is to Be Done? while in prison. The manuscript was smuggled out of jail, and the controversial novel approved by the Tsar censors to be published. It was later, that Chernyshevsky received an extended prison sentence for the publication of the novel.
"What Is to Be Done" is a fictional story based upon a lover's triangle, with socialist undertones.…
