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Alexandra Kollontai, born in 1872 in St. Petersburg, Russia, was a seminal figure as a revolutionary socialist and feminist who with her ideas and actions defied the conventions of her time and influenced the policies of the early Soviet state on gender and social equity. Even within the structures of the Soviet system, her ideologies regarding sexual liberation, free love, and communal childrearing were progressive and her work still informs many important debates over feminism, socialism, and the place of women in society. Kollontai was born in a well to do aristocrat family, had a nice early life, good education and best upbringing. Despite her good family background, she was also conceptually prepared by her family’s discontent as to the social setup of Russia where the upper echelons flourished but most of the Russians lived in dire conditions. She was raised with the expectation to be a typical woman according to her father’s model and though her ideas were quite modern for the society she had to bear such orthodox ideas. Looking at her father’s model, she began to understand that women in the modern society had limitless potential, could and should accomplish much in other fields rather than just concentrate on the family. She started to oppose the socially accepted norms that women of her class must comply to charity activities only confined in the four walls. She wed the engineer Vladimir Kollontai after she grow up, but this was not a blissful union. With the dark feelings she had with her husband dissipating, she has  constantly been devoting her time in social activities rather than spending her entire time on ordinary domestic responsibilities. Though she cared for her children, herself torn between two choices decided to get a divorce so that she could pursue her political ambitions. At the time, divorce was a rarity and socially frowned upon within the Russian aristocracy so her choice was quite radical. After getting a divorce, Kollontai did not only lose her family support, but she also struggled with the financial burden of looking after children. She became an “outlier” in the family and relatives and mates condemned her choice. The family life of Kollontai noticeably affected her ideas as well as political views. She understood that the traditional family unit was and is very much controlling on women, hindering them from self-fulfillment. That is why, as a member of the socialist movement, she advocated for “free love” and “public childcare,” saying women shouldn’t have to rely on the institution of marriage to find love. At a time when women’s sexual activities were repressed and controlled, Kollontai hold a strong position that women should have the right to select and have relationships outside of the institution of marriage. However, at that time, these views of Kollontai were an attack on the conventionalism of Russia, prompting women to adjust to the concept of femininity and self-govern their lives and corporeality. 

Kollontai joined the Bolshevik Party during the Russian Revolution of 1917, which eventually became the ruling party in the Soviet Union. As a result of her ambition and hard work, she was one of the first women elected to a Soviet government post and was active in the formulation of women's policy and policy planning related to social welfare. But even given that, and her larger impact, Kollontai’s visions were on many occasions met with resistance, even in the very Soviet system she had helped to build. Several people in her circle thought her adversarial attitude towards the institution of free love and sexual freedom was way to radical, suggesting that such ideas posed a threat to family institutions which were the primary goals of the government. Also, due to the increased totalitarianism of the Soviet regime under the governance of Stalin, the presence of Kollontai waned and several of her proposals were shelved, but she never stopped believing in social and gender justice and was a fierce champion of feminist causes to her last breath. Kollontai devoted her entire existence to the defense of those ideals whose ultimate purpose was women’s liberation and their self-fulfillment.