Martina Kramers (1863-1934) was a Dutch

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

who was a leader in the

International Council of Women The International Council of Women (ICW) is a women's rights organization working across national boundaries for the common cause of advocating human rights for women. In March and April 1888, women leaders came together in Washington, D.C., with ...

and the

International Woman Suffrage Alliance The International Alliance of Women (IAW; french: Alliance Internationale des Femmes, AIF) is an international non-governmental organization that works to promote women's rights and gender equality. It was historically the main international org ...

as well as in the national

feminist movement The feminist movement (also known as the women's movement, or feminism) refers to a series of social movements and political campaigns for Radical politics, radical and Liberalism, liberal reforms on women's issues created by the inequality b ...

in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. In her various roles, Kramers was an active speaker, writer, and conference organizer for the causes she supported.

Early life

Martina Gezina Kramers was born in

Veur Veur is a former municipality in the Dutch province of South Holland. It covered the northwestern part of the current town of Leidschendam. Veur was a separate municipality between 1817 and 1938, when it merged with Stompwijk to form the new mun ...

on 6 June 1863. Her father was the head of a Protestant boarding school, and as a result of growing up in an educational environment Kramers learned several languages as a child. Kramers' mother died in 1874. At 15, Kramers began studying at a teacher training school in

Arnhem Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both banks of ...

. After completing the program, she returned to

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

where she continued to live with her family.

Suffragist and social movement activity

Kramers' involvement with the women's rights movement in the Netherlands began when she joined the

Vereeniging voor Vrouwenkiesrecht The Vereeniging voor Vrouwenkiesrecht (Association for Women's Suffrage) was a women's rights organization active in the Netherlands from 1894 to 1919. It was devoted to women's suffrage. It was the main women's suffrage movement in the Netherland ...

in 1894. Together with Marie Rutgers-Hoitsema, she founded the Society for the Advancement of Women's Interests in 1895. Kramers translated Frances Swiney's book ''The awakening of women, or, Woman's part in evolution'' into Dutch. In 1898, Kramers helped organize the large, public National Exhibition on Women's Labor held in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

. In the same year, Kramers successfully advocated for the creation of the Dutch National Council for Women, inspired by a lecture given by

May Wright Sewall May Wright Sewall (May 27, 1844 – July 22, 1920) was an American reformer, who was known for her service to the causes of education, women's rights, and world peace. She was born in Greenfield, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. Sewall served as cha ...

at the exhibition. From 1899 to 1909, Kramers was a member of the board of the

. She held the position of secretary at the

(IWSA) from 1906 to 1911 and was the first editor of the organization's journal, ''

Jus Suffragii ''Jus Suffragii'' was the official journal of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance, published monthly from 1906 to 1924. History The International Woman Suffrage Alliance (IWSA), now called the International Alliance of Women, was formed i ...

'', from 1904 to 1913. She held several lectures as a representative of the IWSA at the Université nouvelle in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

that sparked the creation of the Belgian Federation for Women's Suffrage in 1913. Kramers became a member of the Social Democratic Workers' Party in 1911. In 1913, Kramers was asked by IWSA president

Carrie Chapman Catt Carrie Chapman Catt (; January 9, 1859 Fowler, p. 3 – March 9, 1947) was an American women's suffrage leader who campaigned for the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which gave U.S. women the right to vote in 1920. Catt ...

to give up her position as the journal's editor due to her perceived socialist politics and her controversial relationship with a married man. In addition to her suffragist work, Kramers was also active in the Dutch

Neo-Malthusian Malthusianism is the idea that population growth is potentially exponential while the growth of the food supply or other resources is linear, which eventually reduces living standards to the point of triggering a population die off. This event, c ...

movement, promoting the use of and public education about birth control. In 1910, Kramers took minutes, translated conference documents, and acted as interpreter at the Dutch Neo-Malthusian League's conference held in The Hague, attended by activists and political leaders including

Samuel van Houten Samuel van Houten (17 February 1837 – 14 October 1930) was a Dutch liberal politician and philosopher, who served as Minister of the Interior from 1894 to 1897. Early life Van Houten was born in Groningen into a wealthy Mennonite family. Hi ...

Aletta Jacobs Aletta Henriëtte Jacobs (; 9 February 1854 – 10 August 1929) was a Dutch physician and women's suffrage activist. As the first woman officially to attend a Dutch university, she became one of the first female physicians in the Netherlands. I ...

, and

Alice Vickery Alice Vickery (also known as A. Vickery Drysdale and A. Drysdale Vickery; 1844 – 12 January 1929) was an English physician, campaigner for women's rights, and the first British woman to qualify as a chemist and pharmacist. She and her life ...

. Several of her letters and articles were published in the

Margaret Sanger Margaret Higgins Sanger (born Margaret Louise Higgins; September 14, 1879September 6, 1966), also known as Margaret Sanger Slee, was an American birth control activist, sex educator, writer, and nurse. Sanger popularized the term "birth control ...

-led ''

Birth Control Review ''Birth Control Review'' was a lay magazine established and edited by Margaret Sanger in 1917, three years after her friend, Otto Bobsein, coined the term "birth control" to describe voluntary motherhood or the ability of a woman to space childr ...

''.

Later life

In 1918, Kramers moved to

Apeldoorn Apeldoorn (; Dutch Low Saxon: ) is a municipality and city in the province of Gelderland in the centre of the Netherlands. It is located about 60 km east of Utrecht, 60 km west of Enschede, 25 km north of Arnhem and 35 km south of Zwolle. The ...

and shifted her focus to social democratic politics. In 1923, Kramers was elected to the Apeldoorn city council. Kramers, who in her life was also an

Esperantist An Esperantist ( eo, esperantisto) is a person who speaks, reads or writes Esperanto. According to the Declaration of Boulogne, a document agreed upon at the first World Esperanto Congress in 1905, an Esperantist is someone who speaks Esperanto ...

, gave lessons in the language to interested young people. Kramers died in Apeldoorn on 15 October 1934.

External links

Text of Kramers' 1899 presentation to the ICW on the state of the women's movement in Holland

References

Dutch suffragists Dutch feminists Dutch socialist feminists 1863 births 1934 deaths {{Authority control