Voting Station

Sylvia Pankhurst

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Advocate

The Resume

    (May 5, 1882-September 27, 1960)
    Born in Manchester, England, United Kingdom
    Birth name was Estelle Sylvia Pankhurst
    Daughter of Emmeline Pankhurst
    Suffragette and political activist
    Founded the Workers Socialist Federation (1914)
    Settled in Addis Ababa and became an advisor to Haile Selassie
    Wrote 'The History of the Women's Militant Suffragette Movement' (1911) and 'Ethiopia: A Cultural History' (1956)

Why she might be annoying:

    She had a long-term affair with Kier Hardie, the married leader of the Labour Party.
    She became estranged from her mother and her sister Cristabel over her belief that the suffragettes should align with the labor and socialist movements.
    Her mother broke ties with her completely after she gave birth to a son out of wedlock and refused to identify the father (1927).
    She transformed the Workers Socialist Foundation into the Communist Workers Party (1922)
    She met with Lenin and found him far too conservative for her tastes. (For starters, he suggested the Communists in Britain should work through the existing parliamentary system to gain power.)

Why she might not be annoying:

    She designed the logo for her mother's organization, the Women's Social and Political Union.
    She was jailed for four months for publishing articles supporting Communism (1918).
    She raised funds for the first teaching hospital in Ethiopia.
    She received a state funeral in Ethiopia and was the only non-native buried at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Addis Ababa.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 158 Votes: 65.19% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 9 Votes: 22.22% Annoying