She was born a Russian Jew and educated in France and Switzerland before moving to Bulgaria upon her conversion and marriage to Lawyer Alexander Malinov, later prime minister of Bulgaria. From 1899, she edited the paper Zhenski glas ("Female voice") with the Teacher, socialist and Writer Anna Karima, spouse of the socialist Yanko Sakazov, and in 1901, they co-founded the Bulgarian Women's Union with Karima as its first chairperson. The organization was an umbrella organization of the 27 local women's organisations that had been established in Bulgaria since 1878. It was founded as a reply to the limitations of women's education and access to university studies in the 1890s, with the goal to further women's intellectual development and participation, arranged national congresses and used Zhenski glas as its organ.