Elise Honegger (28 November 1839 – 14 November 1912), was a Swiss feminist and journalist. In 1885, she founded and chaired the first national women's organization in Switzerland,

Schweizer Frauen-Verband Schweizer Frauen-Verband was a women's organization in Switzerland, founded in 1885. Verena E. Müller, Frauen wagen sich hinaus, in: Bodenständig und grenzenlos: 200 Jahre Thurgauer Frauengeschichte(n). Hrsg. vom Verein «Thurgauerinnen gestern ...

Biography

Honegger was born in

Stäfa Stäfa is a municipality in the district of Meilen in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland. Geography Stäfa has an area of . Of this area, 46.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while 18.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 34% is se ...

on 28 November 1839. In 1867 she married Mathias Egger with whom she had seven children. Honegger's husband was a newspaper publisher and around 1878 Elise edited the women's supplement of his publication ''Republikaners''. Soon thereafter she divorced from her husband, taking employment as a freelance publisher and editor. Honneger established the women's newspaper ''Schweizer Frauen-Zeitung'' in 1879. The magazine was commercially successful, focusing on the role of wives and mothers (häusl). Outside of her position as publisher, Honneger advocated for raising the status of women. In 1882 Honneger founded the Schweizer Frauen-Verband (Swiss Women's Association). In 1885 she was elected as the organization's first president. She soon came into conflict with the board and resigned in 1886. She kept publishing her newspaper, selling it in 1911, remaining as editor almost until her death on 14 November 1912 in St. Gallen.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Honegger, Elise 1839 births 1912 deaths 19th-century Swiss people Swiss suffragists