Sophie Hedwig Bleuler-Waser (born Sophie Hedwig Waser; 29 December 1869 – 1 February 1940) was a Swiss suffragette who founded the Swiss Federation of Abstinent Women.

Personal life

Bleuler-Waser was born on 29 December 1869 in Zurich. Bleuler-Waser married Swiss psychiatrist

Eugen Bleuler Paul Eugen Bleuler (; ; 30 April 1857 – 15 July 1939) was a Swiss psychiatrist and humanist most notable for his contributions to the understanding of mental illness. He coined several psychiatric terms including "schizophrenia", "schizoid", ...

. The two met while campaigning for the abstinence movement. The couple did not frequent Church and followed the ideas of the Enlightenment.

Education and career

In 1901 she met

Auguste Forel Auguste-Henri Forel (1 September 1848 – 27 July 1931) was a Swiss myrmecologist, neuroanatomist, psychiatrist and eugenicist, notable for his investigations into the structure of the human brain and that of ants. For example, he is considere ...

, a Swiss myrmecologist, neuroanatomist, psychiatrist and eugenicist, and at his suggestion, she founded the Swiss Federation of Abstinent Women. She chaired the Federation as president until October 1921. Together with her five children, she ran social events at the

psychiatric hospital Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociat ...

her husband, Dr. Eugen Bleuler, worked at, including serving afternoon tea. In 1907, Bleuler-Waser graduated from the

University of Zurich The University of Zürich (UZH, german: Universität Zürich) is a public research university located in the city of Zürich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 f ...

, becoming one of the few women to receive her doctorate. While at the University of Zurich she established lasting friendships with

Marie Baum Marie Baum (23 March 1874 – 8 August 1964), was a German politician of the German Democratic Party (DDP) and social activist. She was one of the first female members of the Weimar National Assembly. She was a pioneer within German welfare and ...

Ricarda Huch Ricarda Huch (; 18 July 1864 – 17 November 1947) was a pioneering German intellectual. Trained as an historian, and the author of many works of European history, she also wrote novels, poems, and a play. Asteroid 879 Ricarda is named in her hon ...

and

Marianne Plehn Marianne Plehn (30 October 1863 – 18 January 1946) was a German zoologist. She was the first woman to be awarded a doctorate at the ETH Zurich and the first woman to be appointed as professor in Bavaria in 1914. Plehn is commemorated in the n ...

. After completing her doctorate, she taught at the Höhere Mädchenschule in Zürich. During World War 1, Bleuler-Waser and Else Züblin were involved in the construction of alcohol-free soldiers' offices. In the winter of 1917, she started women's education courses in Zurich. For most of the time Bleuler was working in Burghölzli, between 1898 and 1927, the family lived together in an apartment outside the clinic. The apartment was also home to a secretary and junior doctor. From 1919 until 1937, she led the German-Swiss Ortsgruppenvereinigung (Local chapter of Association).

Selected publications

The following is a list of selected publications: *''J.G. Lavater'' (1894) *''Ulrich Hegner: ein Schweizer Kultur- und Charakterbild'' (1901) *''Weihnachtsspiele'' (1910) *''Die Dichterschwestern Regula Keller und Betsy Meyer'' (1919) *''Lenzbub kommt'' (1920) *''Engelchens Erdenjahr : Weihnachtsspiel in fünf Bildern'' (1926)

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bleuler-Waser, Hedwig 1869 births 1940 deaths Swiss activists Swiss women activists Swiss women educators 20th-century Swiss educators 20th-century Swiss women People from Zürich 20th-century women educators