The anarchist Maria Nikiforova (1885-1919) played a prominent role in the Russian Revolutions of 1917 and the subsequent Civil War as an organizer , military commander, and terrorist. A revolutionary from the age of 16, she was on trial for her life on four separate occasions under three different regimes and was sentenced to death twice . Her exploits became the stuff of folklore. But she was “blacklisted” by official historians and her story was lost for generations