Cécile Brunschvicg (French: [sesil bʁœ̃svik]), born Cécile Kahn (19 July 1877 in Enghien-les-Bains – 5 October 1946 in Neuilly-sur-Seine), was a French feminist politician. From the 1920s until her death she was regarded as "the grande dame of the feminist movement" in France.[1]
Cécile Brunschvicg | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Brunschvicg c. 1926 | |
| Undersecretary of State for national education of France | |
| In office 5 June 1936 – 21 June 1937 | |
| President | Albert Lebrun |
| Prime Minister | Léon Blum |
| Preceded by | Henri Guernut indirectly |
| Succeeded by | Léo Lagrange |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Cécile Kahn 19 July 1877 Enghien-les-Bains, France |
| Died | 5 October 1946 (aged 69) Neuilly-sur-Seine, France |
| Political party | PRS |
| Spouse | Léon Brunschvicg |
She was born into a Jewish middle-class, republican family. Her familial environment was not inclined to let women study, especially not when they were over 17. Already a "liberated" woman (for the time), it was her meeting, and subsequent marriage to, Léon Brunschvicg, a feminist philosopher and member of the Ligue des droits de l'homme, that spurred her to feminist activism; she became vice-president of the League of Electors for women's suffrage.
The French Union for Women's Suffrage (UFSF: Union française pour le suffrage des femmes) was founded by a group of feminists who had attended a national congress of French feminists in Paris in 1908, led by Jeanne Schmahl and Jane Misme.[2] The UFSF provided a less militant and more widely acceptable alternative to the Suffrage des femmes of Hubertine Auclert (1848–1914). The sole objective was to obtain women's suffrage through legal approaches.[2] The founding meeting of 300 women was held in February 1909. Cécile Brunschvicg was made secretary-general.[2] Schmahl was the first president.[3] Eliska Vincent accepted the position of honorary vice-president.[4] The UFSF was formally recognized by the International Woman Suffrage Alliance (IWFA) congress in London in April 1909 as representing the French suffrage movement.[2] In 1926, she became the editor of La Française.
Cécile Brunschvicg was named Undersecretary of State for national education in the first Léon Blum government.
Notes
edit- ^ Newhall 1999, pp. 145–147.
- ^ a b c d Hause 2002.
- ^ The Woman Movement In France and Its Leader 1911, p. 4.
- ^ Rappaport 2001, p. 726.
Sources
edit- Hause, Steven C. (2002). "Union Française Pour Le Suffrage Des Femmes (UFSF)". In Helen Tierney (ed.). Women's Studies Encyclopedia. Greenwood Press. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
- Newhall, David S. (1999). "Brunschvicg, Cécile". Women in World History. Vol. 3: Brem-Cold. Waterford, CT: Yorkin Publications. ISBN 0-7876-4062-X.
- Rappaport, Helen (2001). Encyclopedia of Women Social Reformers. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-57607-101-4. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
- "The Woman Movement In France and Its Leader". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. New York. 4 September 1911. Retrieved 23 March 2015 – via newspapers.com.
- (in French) Biography at the University of Angers Archived 3 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine
