Initially concerned with the plight of serfs, Filosofova became a feminist in the late 1850s after joining the salon of Maria Trubnikova, who educated her on the subject.

They founded and led several charitable organizations designed to promote women's cultural and economic independence, such as the Society for Cheap Lodgings and Other Benefits for the Citizens of St. Petersburg.

[1][3] In 1855, she married Vladimir Dmitryevich Filosofov, a high-ranking official in the Ministry of War and Defence who was seventeen years her senior.

[1][2] Filosofova's husband came from a serf-owning family, and after their marriage she made frequent visits to the Filosofov estate near Bezhanitsy in Pskov Oblast.

Filosofova's father-in-law is described as a "tyrannical figure" by the academic Marianna Muravyeva; he sexually abused the serfs under his control.

[3][6] The historian Richard Stites describes the triumvirate as "the three major [feminist] figures", who drew on support from wider circles of dozens of women who "moved in and out" of various roles.

"[7] In contrast to the contemporaneous Russian nihilist movement, Filosofova and the other members of the triumvirate were not radical in public style or fashion, and retained their stations in the good graces of the upper class.

[2][8] Criticized by a nihilist adherent for dressing like "a doll" at an important meeting, Filosofova replied that "clothes do not make the woman", according to Ruthchild.

[2] Filosofova was clear in her goal, which she once expressed in a letter to Anatoly Koni: "giving women the opportunity for an autonomous path to employment and a morally and materially independent status.

It published a wide variety of books, including textbooks, scientific works and children's stories, such as Darwin's On the Origin of Species and Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales.

[1][6][10] Although it was initially successful, the cooperative never received governmental approval and suffered financial difficulties after Trubnikova and Stasova went abroad and its bookselling partner went bankrupt.

[3] The campaign began with a meeting at Trubnikova's home between scores of interested women and (male) scholars, where a plan of action was agreed upon.

[6][8] The next step was to obtain approval from Dmitry Andreyevich Tolstoy, who was responsible for the education system as the Minister of National Enlightenment.

[1] Tolstoy argued that women would abandon education after being married, and dismissed the signatories by stating that they were "sheep" merely following the latest fashion.

[1] In Tsarist Russia, state policy was poorly coordinated and inconsistent due to the competing interests of rival ministers, and the triumvirate looked for another path to support higher education for women.

They appealed to the more liberal war minister Dmitry Alekseyevich Milyutin, who, persuaded by his wife, daughter, and Filosofova, agreed to host medical courses for women in Saint Petersburg.

[8] In April 1876, at Tolstoy and Filosofova's urging, Alexander II permitted the creation of courses for higher education for women, although admission to men's universities was still barred.

[8] The radicalism of some of the students led to criticism, and the Bestuzhev Courses were temporarily shut down in 1886, before reopening under stricter government control in 1889.

[1][11] In 1879, she was exiled abroad for raising money for groups "connected with Land and Liberty", per Stites, along with other offenses (such as giving her husband's military coat to an internee being deported to Siberia).

[1][2][11] After the conservative backlash following the assassination of the Tsar the same year, Filosofova was further isolated, and her husband's official position was also weakened because of her revolutionary connections.

After the congress, Filosofova and some of her associates received hostile letters from the ultra-conservative Duma deputy Vladimir Purishkevich; he called it "an assembly of whores".

Scores of women's organizations, both from Russia and beyond, dedicated speeches to Filosofova, while Duma members celebrated her at the Mariinsky Palace.