Gerda Fredrika Marcus (1880–1952) was a Swedish journalist and philanthropist who was deeply concerned with social issues. After contributing to Swedish newspapers from Berlin in 1907, she worked for ''

Svenska Dagbladet ''Svenska Dagbladet'' (, "The Swedish Daily News"), abbreviated SvD, is a daily newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden. History and profile The first issue of ''Svenska Dagbladet'' appeared on 18 December 1884. During the beginning of the ...

'' first in Sweden and later as a

foreign correspondent A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locati ...

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

where she lived from 1923 to 1933. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, she proved to be an effective fundraiser for assisting needy families. Marcus was a key figure in the Swedish branch of

Save the Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization established in the United Kingdom in 1919 to improve the lives of children through better education, health care, and economic ...

which she helped to establish in 1919, continuing her support during and after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Biography

Born in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

on 21 February 1880, Gerda Fredrika Marcus was the daughter of the wholesaler Jacob Axel Marcus and his wife Emma Henriette née Eliasson. She was one of five children in a Jewish family with ancestors who had emigrated from

Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; nds, label=Low German, Mękel(n)borg ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schwerin ...

in the late 18th century. After attending the Åhlin Girls' School (1889–1897), she worked for Thecla Tjäder's employment agency. While working in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

in 1907, she began to send news reports to Swedish newspapers such as ''

Dagens Nyheter ''Dagens Nyheter'' (, ), abbreviated ''DN'', is a daily newspaper in Sweden. It is published in Stockholm and aspires to full national and international coverage, and is widely considered Sweden's newspaper of record. History and profile ''Da ...

'', almost accidentally becoming a foreign correspondent. On returning to Sweden, she spent a couple of years as assistant editor for a newly established theatre journal, ''

Thalia Thalia, Thalía, Thaleia or Thalian may refer to: People * Thalia (given name), including a list of people with the name * Thalía (born 1971), Mexican singer and actress Mythological and fictional characters * Thalia (Grace), one of the three ...

''. After it closed in 1913, she joined the editorial staff at ''Svenska Dagbladet'', eventually working in Vienna as the paper's foreign correspondent. Her efforts, however, were not restricted to writing. She proved to be a highly effective fundraiser, using to paper's resources to raise capital for funding needy families. During the difficult years of the

, thanks to her writings and support from the newspaper, she was able to raise substantial funding for the elderly to enjoy holidays and for children to take part in games and other organized activities. In 1919, she was one of those who established the Swedish branch of Save the Children, becoming its first Secretary General. From 1923 to 1933, Marcus lived in Vienna where in December 1923, she married the Jewish lawyer and theatre publisher Ernst Fall. The marriage was dissolved in 1933. From the mid-1930s, she assisted the Jewish congregation in Stockholm to save Jewish children from persecution in Germany. After the end of the Second World War, she visited refugee camps in Austria and Hungary, providing support for children. She was also active in assisting development of the Palestine question. Gerda Marcus died in Stockholm on 28 January 1952.

Biography

References

Further reading