Of mixed Russian and French heritage, Trubnikova was orphaned at an early age and subsequently raised by a wealthy relative.

Alongside Anna Filosofova and Nadezhda Stasova, whom she mentored, Trubnikova was one of the earliest leaders of the Russian women's movement.

They founded and led several organizations designed to promote women's cultural and economic independence, including a publishing cooperative.

She was influenced by French writers such as Jules Michelet, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, and Henri de Saint-Simon, as well as others like Kant, Plato, and Heine.

[1][3][6] In her personal life, according to the historian Barbara Engel, Trubnikova was "more of a nonconformist than a rebel", happy to wear men's attire on the family's country estate when accompanied only by her daughters, but swiftly changing into feminine garb when joined by her husband.

[1] Trubnikova used any opportunity to recruit women to her cause; for instance, during a routine medical appointment, she convinced her doctor to send his wife to the salon.

[2][3] 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.

[8] In contrast to the contemporaneous Russian nihilist movement, Trubnikova 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.

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.

[2][4][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.

[11] He rejected the petition in late 1868, but under pressure from Tsar Alexander II, allowed less-advanced, mixed-gender public lectures which women could attend.

[2][9] Throughout the campaign, Trubnikova kept foreign correspondents apprised of their progress, and received support from Mill and the French feminist writer André Leo.

[4] 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 Milyutin, who, persuaded by his wife, daughter, and Filosofova, agreed to host courses for women in Saint Petersburg.

[4] In 1869, Trubnikova left Russia temporarily to seek treatment for mental illness, and to meet Butler and Marie Goegg in Switzerland.

[1][4] Trubnikova hosted meetings of illegal societies at her house, and once helped hide the revolutionary Sophia Perovskaya (who coordinated the assassination of Alexander II).