Berta Pīpiņa ( née Berta Ziemele; 28 September 1883 – 1942) was a Latvian teacher, journalist, politician and women's rights activist. She was the first woman elected to serve in the Saeima although there was six female members

Constitutional Assembly of Latvia The Constitutional Assembly of Latvia ( lv, Satversmes sapulce) was independent Latvia's first elected legislative body. Its main task was creating the constitution of Latvia, the Satversme, which is still in effect to this day. The Speaker of As ...

from May 1, 1920, until November 7, 1922, when the 1st Saeima convened. Active in

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

, during her time in the

Riga City Council Riga City Council ( lv, Rīgas dome) is the government of the city of Riga, the capital of Latvia. Its meeting place is in the Riga Town Hall (''Rīgas rātsnams)'' at the Town Hall Square (''Rātslaukums'') in the very heart of Riga. The Riga C ...

and the Saeima, she strove to enact laws and policies to promote women's equality and protect families. When Soviet troops occupied Latvia, she was deported to Siberia, her life was removed from encyclopedias, and she died in a

gulag The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= was the government agency in ...

Early life

Berta Ziemele was born on 28 September 1883 in the Code parish of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

, in what is now the

Baltic state The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, ...

of Latvia, to Liza (née Kula) and Jekabs Ziemelis. Her parents worked a farm and ran an

inn Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway; before the advent of motorized transportation they also provided accommo ...

. Ziemele attended the Girls' Grammar School, a state operated primary facility in , before attending the Beķeris Girls’ Preliminary Gymnasium in

Bauska Bauska () is a town in Bauska Municipality, in the Zemgale region of southern Latvia. Bauska is located from the Latvian capital Riga, 62 km (38.5 mi) from Jelgava and from the Lithuanian border on the busy European route E67. The to ...

, which offered women four years of secondary schooling.

Career

In 1901, Ziemele began teaching in

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. Between 1904 and 1908, she studied in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

under Dr. Liebman to learn speech therapy techniques to assist disabled children. The following year, she traveled to Switzerland and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

to expand her knowledge of educational systems. Returning to Latvia in 1910, Ziemele married Ermanis Pīpiņš, (1873–1927), who was a book reviewer, journalist and literary critic. The couple subsequently had three children: daughters, Biruta and Nora and son, Jānis. When Latvia gained its independence in 1918, Pīpiņa began active participation in social and political issues. She was one of the founders of the Democratic Center Party and was elected to serve on its Central Committee, the first woman elected to serve on a party's central governing body. In 1919, she was elected to the

and began working on issues like public drinking and concerns focused around women and children. She was appointed to the Supply Commission and spoke at numerous events about women's issues. Around 1922, she joined the Latvian Women’s National League and that same year, the League joined the

International Council of Women The International Council of Women (ICW) is a women's rights organization working across national boundaries for the common cause of advocating human rights for women. In March and April 1888, women leaders came together in Washington, D.C., wit ...

(ICW). In 1925, Pīpiņa became president of the League, which organized charitable work, such as founding a

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th ce ...

, operating a library, establishing Sunday schools, and hosting educational and needlework courses for women. The organization also provided free legal advice to women, which Pīpiņa believed was part of the organizational goal of uniting women, educating them to bring up succeeding generations and helping them develop a national spirit. Between 1925 and 1928, Pīpiņa headed the Riga Department for the Destitute and then until 1931 served on the Riga Audit Commission, which monitored the municipal offices. She began publishing in 1928, with a piece, ''Kā es runāju ar saviem bērniem par dzimumdzīvi'' (How to talk to my children about sexuality), which was intended to help women educate their children. In 1930, she was involved in founding the Council of Latvian Women’s Organizations, an

umbrella organization An umbrella organization is an association of (often related, industry-specific) institutions who work together formally to coordinate activities and/or pool resources. In business, political, and other environments, it provides resources and ofte ...

to advance the social and political equality of women. She served on its board and was appointed as the organization's leader. In 1931, Pīpiņa became the first woman to serve in the Saeima and was the only female parliamentarian of the 100-member body during the interwar period. She was elected as a deputy representing the Democratic Center and served as an assistant to the Chair for the Commission on Self Government and as secretary of the Petitions Commission. Pīpiņa strove to seek legal protections for women and families. When a law was proposed to force married women to relinquish their employment, Pīpiņa created a stir in stating her opposition, drawing the scorn of

Kārlis Ulmanis Kārlis Augusts Vilhelms Ulmanis (; 4 September 1877 – 20 September 1942) was a Latvian politician. He was one of the most prominent Latvian politicians of pre-World War II Latvia during the Interwar period of independence from November 1918 to ...

. She also worked on laws to provide state support for families and the poor, and was often ridiculed by her male colleagues and the press for her positions. During the same time, Pīpiņa participated in international women's conferences, attending "ICW Congresses in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

(1930), Stockholm (1933),

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

(1934), and

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik (), historically known as Ragusa (; see notes on naming), is a city on the Adriatic Sea in the region of Dalmatia, in the southeastern semi-exclave of Croatia. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterran ...

(1936)", and women's meetings held in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

and

, among others. In 1934, she co-founded a monthly periodical, ''Latviete'' (Latvian woman). The purpose of the journal was to educate women on issues concerning the nation and fight the "patriarchal stereotypes" that prohibited women from being treated as equals in society. That same year, Pīpiņa terminated her work with the Riga City Council and in 1935, she stepped down from her leadership of the umbrella council. She published a novel, ''Lejaskrodzinieka meita'' (Innkeeper's daughter, 1935) and in 1936, she became a vice president of ICW. When the

authoritarian regime Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political '' status quo'', and reductions in the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic ...

came into power in 1934, Pīpiņa remained active as a journalist but withdrew from politics. In 1940, when the Soviet troops occupied Latvia, she became a target and was deported to

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...

in 1941.

Death and legacy

Pīpiņa died in a labor camp on the

Ob River } The Ob ( rus, Обь, p=opʲ: Ob') is a major river in Russia. It is in western Siberia; and together with Irtysh forms the world's seventh-longest river system, at . It forms at the confluence of the Biya and Katun which have their origins ...

in 1942. During the Soviet period, she was considered as an enemy of the state, having served in the independent parliament of Latvia and her biography was purged from encyclopedias. Her importance in the political history and in the women’s movement re-emerged after Latvia regained its independence.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pipina, Berta 1883 births 1942 deaths People from Bauska Municipality People from Courland Governorate Democratic Centre (Latvia) politicians Deputies of the 4th Saeima Latvian women's rights activists Latvian women writers 20th-century Latvian women writers 20th-century Latvian writers Latvian feminists Women deputies of the Saeima Latvian people who died in Soviet detention 20th-century Latvian women politicians