Maria Bochkareva
| Maria Bochkaryova | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | 1889 Novgorod Governorate, Russian Empire |
| Died | May 16, 1920 (aged 30/31) Krasnoyarsk, Russian SFSR |
| Allegiance |
 Russian Empire (to 1917) Russian Republic
|
| Unit | 25th Tomsk Reserve Battalion |
| Commands held | 1st Russian Women's Battalion of Death |
| Battles/wars | Kerensky Offensive |
Maria Leontievna Bochkareva (Russian: Мари́я Лео́нтьевна Бочкарёва Maria Leontievna Bochkaryova; née Frolkova (Фролко́ва), nicknamed Yashka; 1889–1920) was a Russian woman who fought in World War I and formed the Women's Battalion of Death.
Maria Frolkova was born to a peasant family in the Novgorod Governorate in 1889. She left home at the age of 15 to marry Afanasy Bochkarev and they moved to Tomsk, Siberia where they worked as laborers. When her husband began to assault her, Bochkareva left him and found job as a servant, not knowing that her employer was a brothel owner forcing Maria to work in her establishment. They moved her to Sretensk where Maria began relationship with a local Jewish man named Yakov (or Yankel) Buk. She and Buk opened a butcher shop, but in May 1912, Buk was arrested for larceny and sent to Yakutsk. Bochkareva followed him into exile, primarily on foot, and the couple established another butcher shop. Buk was caught stealing again and sent to the remote settlement of Amga in 1913, and once again Bochkareva followed him. Buk began drinking heavily and soon became abusive.
At the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Bochkareva left Buk and returned to Tomsk. In November, she managed to join the 25th Tomsk Reserve Battalion of the Imperial Russian Army by securing the personal permission of Tsar Nicholas II. Men of the regiment treated her with ridicule or sexually harassed her until she proved her courage in battle. In the following years, Bochkareva was twice wounded and decorated three times for bravery, and bayoneted at least one German soldier to death.
After the abdication of the Tsar in early 1917, she was charged with creating an all-female combat unit by Minister of War Alexander Kerensky. This was the first women's battalion to be organized in Russia. Bochkareva's 1st Russian Women's Battalion of Death initially attracted around 2,000 women volunteers, but the commander's strict discipline drove all but around 300 dedicated women soldiers out of the unit.
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