Estelle Sylvia Pankhurst

Biography

Pankhurst was the daughter of suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst. A socialist from a young age she was as strongly motivated by her father as her mother and was devastated at his death in 1898. She studied at Manchester Municipal School of Art, the Accademia in Venice and the Royal College of Art, London. Charming and beautiful she was also autocratic. She never married but did have a close relationship with MP Keir Hardie for many years.

During her studies Pankhurst represented her mother’s Women’s Social and Political Union in London, giving up her studies in 1906 to take it on full time. Combining her suffrage movement with her socialist beliefs she set up the East London Federation of Suffragettes and founded the Women’s Dreadnaught newspaper. This isolated her from her mother and Christabel who turned against the labour movement. Highly militant she was imprisoned repeatedly. As well as supporting women’s suffrage and workers rights she also opposed World War I, supported Ethiopian independence and campaigned on numerous other international and national issues. She used her artistic and journalistic talent to the full, producing articles, books and paintings to promote her causes.

Moving to Chelsea shortly after quitting her studies Sylvia spent most of this time travelling the country on WSPU business.