What does International Women’s Day mean to you?

For the longest time, many of us thought it was simply a celebration of women, spring, and beauty. 

Today, I feel it is also a time to pay tribute to the strong women who paved the way for our rights, liberties, and equality.

One of these women in my life was my great-great-grandmother, Liudmyla.

She was well educated and fiercely courageous. After graduating from the Boarding School for Young Ladies, Liudmyla married a priest and had three children.

When the Revolution of 1917 erupted and the Soviets took over, they declared religion to be “opium for the people.” Clergy were banned from serving as priests and religious educators.

My great-great-grandfather, Konstyantyn, was sent to the Solovki special camp, later known as the Solovki special prison. It was established in 1923 on the remote Solovetsky Islands in the White Sea as a as a remote and inaccessible place of detention for opponents of the new Soviet regime.

He was labeled “an enemy of the people,” and their children would have carried that stigma for life. 

In an effort to protect them and give them access to education, Liudmyla made the heartbreaking decision to divorce her husband.

With her husband imprisoned far away, she had to provide for their children on her own and became a working mother. I cannot imagine how difficult that must have been.

In 1953 Stalin died, and in 1954 Konstyantyn was released. However, he was never allowed to return to Kyiv or serve as a priest again. 

The family was never reunited.

Their three children did receive an education. My grandmother remembers that Liudmyla never believed Soviet propaganda. She often repeated: “They are lying to you.” 

But whenever the children or grandchildren tried to ask about Solovki, she would become afraid to speak, because even talking about it could be dangerous.

Today I celebrate my great-great-grandmother and all the strong women who made it possible for me to graduate from college, work, choose whom to marry, or whether to marry at all. 

Not every legacy is written in history books, many are preserved through family memory.

Deep respect to the women who carried the world on their shoulders so the next generations could live with more freedom.

#internationalwomensday, #march8, #womensrights, #feminism, #equality, #womencan