Cune van Groeningen - Monument voor Joke Smit - 1997

Johanna Elisabeth "Joke" Smit (27 August 1933 – 19 September 1981) was a well-known Dutch feminist and politician in the 1970s.

Personal life

Smit grew up in a reformed family of six children in

Vianen Vianen () is a city and a former municipality in the central Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. It is located south of the Lek River. Before 2002 it was part of the province of South Holland. Vianen is made up of a historic town centre tha ...

. Her father was a teacher. She attended the Christelijk Gymnasium Utrecht and later studied French language and literature at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...

. She taught French at a number of schools between 1955 and 1966. In 1962, she worked a year in Paris as a freelance journalist, writing articles for the Dutch newspapers '' NRC'' and ''

Het Parool ''Het Parool'' () is an Amsterdam-based daily newspaper. It was first published on 10 February 1941 as a resistance paper during the German occupation of the Netherlands (1940–1945). In English, its name means ''The Password'' or ''The Motto' ...

''. She was then appointed editor and secretary of the editorial staff of the literary magazine

Tirade Invective (from Middle English ''invectif'', or Old French and Late Latin ''invectus'') is abusive, reproachful, or venomous language used to express blame or censure; or, a form of rude expression or discourse intended to offend or hurt; vitupera ...

. She started to work as an associate professor at the Institute for Translation of the University of Amsterdam in 1966. A year later, she became a member of the

Partij van de Arbeid The Labour Party ( nl, Partij van de Arbeid, , abbreviated as ''PvdA'', or ''P van de A'', ) is a social-democratic political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1946 as a merger of the Social Democratic Workers' Party, the Free ...

(Labor Party). She represented this party in the municipal government of

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

from September 1970 until September 1971. Smit also became editor of the party's scientific journal ''Socialisme & Democratie'' (''Socialism & Democracy'') in 1971. As a politician, she became affiliated with many committees, such as the Programmaraad TV (TV Program Council) for the NOS, the Committee Open School and the Emancipation Committee. Smit married Constant Kool in 1956 and gave birth to two children. Her relationship with Kool ended in 1974. She had a relationship with Jeroen de Wildt from 1978 onwards. Smit died of

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a r ...

in September 1981 at the age of 48.

Feminist activities

Smit gained a reputation as a feminist and an activist in 1967 when she published ''Het onbehagen bij de vrouw'' (1967) (''The Discontent of Women'') in the renowned literary magazine '' De Gids'' in 1967. The publication of this essay is often regarded as the start of the

second wave of feminism Second-wave feminism was a period of feminist activity that began in the early 1960s and lasted roughly two decades. It took place throughout the Western world, and aimed to increase equality for women by building on previous feminist gains. W ...

in the Netherlands. In this essay, Smit describes the frustration of married women, saying they are fed up being solely mothers and housewives. Together with

Hedy d'Ancona Hedwig "Hedy" d'Ancona (; born 1 October 1937) is a retired Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA) and political activist. d'Ancona applied at the University of Amsterdam in June 1956 majoring in Sociology and obtaining a Bachelor of Soc ...

, Smit founded the feminist organization Man Vrouw Maatschappij (MVM) in 1968. Throughout the 1970s, Smit published articles on a range of topics: women's issues in politics, women's rights, emancipation for lesbian women, feminism and socialism, and education for girls and women. Smit's was also known to the public for her progressive ideas about a new division in Dutch society between paid and unpaid labor. For instance, she argued that both men and women should work thirty hours a week to earn a living, which would consequently enable a division of a number of unpaid family- and household tasks between spouses. The feminist magazine ''

Opzij ''Opzij'' is a mainstream Dutch feminist monthly magazine. The title means "out of the way!"Cas Wouters, "Changes in the 'Lust Balance' of Sex and Love since the Sexual Revolution: The Example of the Netherlands," in History and profile ''Opzij ...

'' awarded Smit the Annie-Romein-Verschoor-prize in 1979.

Legacy

Since Smit's death in 1981, various commemorations were made in her honour, such as a bi-annual Joke Smit-prize, a Joke Smit College, a Joke Smit Foundation, the Joke Smit-countries in Enschede, a Joke Smit Institute and the Joke Smit square in

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...

. Various schools and streets in numerous Dutch municipalities were also named after her. A monument for Joke Smit was erected at the Alexandrine Tinneplein, near station De Vink in

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wi ...

. Feminist magazine ''

'' republished Smit's essay ''Het onbehagen bij de vrouw'' in their 2007 special edition.

Publications

* 1967 - Het onbehagen bij de vrouw, ''De Gids'', November 1967 * 1969 - ''Rok en rol. Vrouw (en man) in een veranderende samenleving'', samen met H. Misset en E. Engelsman, De Arbeiderspers – Amsterdam * 1972 - ''Hé zus, ze houen ons eronder. Een boek voor vrouwen en oudere meisjes'', Bruna - Utrecht/Antwerpen * 1975 - ''De moeder van Marie kan méér. Gebundelde artikelen 1971-1975'', Bruna - Utrecht/Antwerpen * 1984 - ''Er is een land waar vrouwen willen wonen'', verzamelbundel

Literature

Marja Vuijsje: ''Joke Smit. Biografie van een feministe''. Atlas, Amsterdam, 2008. (3rd. pr. 2010, Olympus: )

References

Drs. J.E. (Joke) Smit (Kool-Smit)
at www.parlement.com

External links

''Het onbehagen bij de vrouw'' (1967)

Smit, Johanna Elisabeth (1933-1981)

Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland The ''Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland'' (BWN) is a Dutch biographical dictionary, in which short biographies of well-known and less well-known but still notable Dutch people are listed. The BWN is the successor to the ''Nieuw Nederlandsch ...

Info op jokesmit.nl

Integrale tekst van de verzamelbundel ''Er is een land waar vrouwen willen wonen'' (1984)

Jeroen de Wildt
Portret in Digitaal Vrouwenlexicon Nederland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smit, Joke 1933 births 1981 deaths Dutch feminists Dutch non-fiction writers Municipal councillors of Amsterdam Labour Party (Netherlands) politicians Politicians from Utrecht (city) Socialist feminists Utrecht University alumni Deaths from cancer in the Netherlands Deaths from breast cancer 20th-century non-fiction writers