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Alexandra Petrovna "Sasha" Kropotkin (April 15, 1887 - July 4, 1966) was
the daughter of Peter Kropotkin. Emma Goldman knew her in the U.S.S.R. She later wrote articles about Russia for New Outlook magazine, edited by Alfred Emmanuel Smith.Queer Places:
122 E 76th St, New York, NY 10021
Alexandra Petrovna "Sasha" Kropotkin (April 15, 1887 - July 4, 1966) was
the daughter of Peter Kropotkin. Emma Goldman knew her in the U.S.S.R. She later wrote articles about Russia for New Outlook magazine, edited by Alfred Emmanuel Smith.
Princess Alexandra Kropotkin was a direct descendent of the Rurik Dynasty. She was born in London during her parents’ exile. Her father was the famous aristocrat-turned-anarchist, Prince Peter Alexeyevich Kropotkin. He had served for as an aide to Tsar Alexander II in 1862. His subversive writings and activities in Russia had led to his arrest and imprisonment. Peter gained world-wide fame for his daring escape in 1876 from the Peter and Paul Fortress (St. Petersburg, Russia) after being arrested for subversive activity. He escaped to Europe where met his wife, a Russian student also in exile.
Princess Alexandra grew up in an atmosphere of philosophy, radical politics, and science. She became fluent in French, Russian, and English. Although she was steeped in Russian culture, she didn’t move to Russia until 1917. She and her mother returned with Peter to Russia during the so-called "February Revolution", but his enthusiasm for the changes occurring turned to disappointment when the Bolsheviks seized power in the so-called "October Revolution". She was imprisoned during the Revolution and escaped to the US after her father's death in 1921.
She described herself as a “linguist, traveler, lecturer, and authority on fashion.” She wrote breezy columns for women’s magazines in the 1930s, and translated War and Peace and other classics in 1940s. Her engaging narrative and smart recipes in her book How to Cook and Eat in Russian (1947) gave America a glimpse of Russian life in general and the definitive Beef Stroganoff recipe in particular. She reissued it in 1964 as The Best of Russian Cooking.
Her married name was Hammond and she lived at 122 East 76th Street, New York.
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