Helena Clara Deneke (1878–1973) was a British Germanist at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. She was an enthusiast for women's suffrage and for the

Women's Institutes The Women's Institute (WI) is a community-based organisation for women in the United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand. The movement was founded in Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada, by Erland and Janet Lee with Adelaide Hoodless being th ...

. She was "something of a legend in the Oxford of her day".

Life

Helena Deneke was born in

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on 19 May 1878, the oldest child of Philip Maurice Deneke (1842–1925), a German-born London merchant banker, and Clara Sophia Overweg (1847–1933), of a landed Westphalian family.D. Phillips
Deneke, Helena Clara
''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'', 2004. Accessed 6 January 2020. She was educated privately and at St Hugh's Hall, Oxford, where she befriended Grace Hadow, a fellow English student at

Somerville College Somerville College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. Among its alumnae have been Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Dorothy Hodgkin, Ir ...

. Deneke gained a first in English in 1903. She became librarian of St Hugh's in 1904, initially teaching English, though switching to become tutor in German in 1909. Deneke was active within the Oxford Women Students' Society for Women's Suffrage (OWSSWS), established in 1911 with Hadow as President. Deneke and Hadow joined the 1913

Great Pilgrimage The Great Pilgrimage of 1913 was a march in Britain by suffragists campaigning non-violently for women's suffrage, organised by the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS). Women marched to London from all around England and Wales a ...

for women's suffrage, and Deneke served as OWSSWS Secretary in 1914-15. In 1913 she moved to

Lady Margaret Hall Lady Margaret Hall (LMH) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, located on the banks of the River Cherwell at Norham Gardens in north Oxford and adjacent to the University Parks. The college is more formall ...

as bursar and German tutor. She and her sister, the pianist Margaret Deneke, lived in a house, Gunfield, next to the college. The pair held highly regarded musical soirees at Gunfield, attended by guests including

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...

and

Albert Schweitzer Ludwig Philipp Albert Schweitzer (; 14 January 1875 – 4 September 1965) was an Alsatian-German/French polymath. He was a theologian, organist, musicologist, writer, humanitarian, philosopher, and physician. A Lutheran minister, Schwei ...

. Deneke was Treasurer of the

National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies The National Union of Women Suffrage Societies (NUWSS), also known as the ''suffragists'' (not to be confused with the suffragettes) was an organisation founded in 1897 of women's suffrage societies around the United Kingdom. In 1919 it was ren ...

until 1919, after which she threw her energies into establishing an Oxford Federation of

. In 1926 she was elected a Lady Margaret Hall fellow. Retiring from the college in 1938, she continued as lecturer to St Anne's College until 1942.'Miss H. C. Deneke', ''

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'', 1 October 1973. As a result of her WI activity, Deneke and Betty Norris of the

Townswomen's Guild Members representing their Federation at the 2009 AGM in Birmingham The Townswomen's Guild (TG) is a British women's organisation. There are approximately 30,000 members, 706 branches and 77 Federations throughout England, Scotland, Wales and N ...

were invited to play a political role in reconstructing women's organizations in post-war Germany. Deneke visited Germany seven times as a Visiting Expert in women's affairs, "making contact with nearly all German women of importance in German life". Their report, published in 1947, emphasised Deneke's hopes for ''Landfrauenvereine'' analogous to English WIs, and German women's immediate need for practical material aid rather than 'preaching' of democracy. Helena Deneke died in Oxfordshire on 26 September 1973. Her manuscript memoirs and personal papers are held at Lady Margaret Hall.The papers of Helena and Margaret Deneke

. Accessed 6 January 2020.

Works

* 'Goethe's mind and art', ''

Hibbert Journal ''The Hibbert Journal'' was a large, quarterly magazine in softback book format, issued since 1902 by the Hibbert Trust, best described by its subtitle: ''A Quarterly Review of Religion, Theology and Philosophy''. In the early years it was publish ...

'', Vol. XXX (July 1932), pp. 626–637 * 'Some observations on Jean Paul', in ''German studies presented to Professor H.G. Fiedler, M.V.O., by pupils, colleagues, and friends on his seventy-fifth birthday''. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1938. * ''Grace Hadow''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1946. * (with Betty Norris) ''The Women of Germany''. London: The National Council of Social Service, 1947

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Deneke, Helena 1878 births 1973 deaths Germanists Alumni of St Hugh's College, Oxford Fellows of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford