This book by the famous French specialist in Russian history, Permanent Secretary of the French Academy Hélène Carrère d’Encausse, is dedicated to one of the most striking characters in Soviet history. We are talking about the first female minister in history, Alexandra Kollontai. A Russian revolutionary, a member of the Bolshevik Party since 1915, after the October Revolution in Russia in 1917–1918, she was part of the first Soviet government, the Council of People's Commissars, as People's Commissar of State Charity. Since 1922 - in diplomatic work as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the USSR. At the beginning of the 20th century, the ideas about possible ways of women's emancipation, outlined by her in the book “The New Woman” and a number of fictional works, created a sensation.