Margarethe Faas-Hardegger (20 February 1882 in Bern – 23 September 1963 in

Minusio Minusio is a municipality in the district of Locarno in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. History In the Ceresole section, a significant Iron Age necropolis (c. 6th-5th century BC) was discovered. It held about 20 graves and rich grave goods. ...

) was a Swiss

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

activist, trade unionist and the leading figure of the Swiss women workers' movement at the beginning of the 20th century. Her leadership saw the Swiss women workers' movement gain a political and feminist profile. Faas-Hardegger made

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

part of the Swiss trade unions' platform, as well as maternity insurance and the idea of paid housework.

Biography

Margarethe Hardegger trained as a telephone switchboard operator and obtained a late ''

Matura or its translated terms (''Mature'', ''Matur'', , , , , , ) is a Latin name for the secondary school exit exam or "maturity diploma" in various European countries, including Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, C ...

'' diploma with the support of her later husband, the lawyer August Faas. She had two daughters, Olga and Lisa, with Faas, whom she married in 1903 and divorced in 1912. Since 1916 she cohabited with the German carpenter Hans Brunner. In 1903, Hardegger co-founded the Bernese Textile Workers' Association. In 1905, she became the first women workers' secretary of the Swiss Federation of Trade Unions (SGB), abandoning law school to obtain the post. She founded several trade union sections and consumer cooperatives, as well as the women's newspapers '' Die Vorkämpferin'' and '' L'Exploitée''. In 1909, the active syndicalist and

antimilitarist Antimilitarism (also spelt anti-militarism) is a doctrine that opposes war, relying heavily on a critical theory of imperialism and was an explicit goal of the First and Second International. Whereas pacifism is the doctrine that disputes (especi ...

was let go from the SGB after continued political disagreements with the union leadership. After leaving the SGB, Hardegger focused on her work in the Socialist League, which she had co-founded with

Gustav Landauer Gustav Landauer (7 April 1870 – 2 May 1919) was one of the leading theorists on anarchism in Germany at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. He was an advocate of social anarchism and an avowed pacifist. In 1919, he ...

in 1908, and its magazine ''The Socialist''. She campaigned for the use of contraceptives, and was arrested in

Valais Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the 26 cantons forming the S ...

for "distributing immoral literature". But her support of women's rights and

free love Free love is a social movement that accepts all forms of love. The movement's initial goal was to separate the state from sexual and romantic matters such as marriage, birth control, and adultery. It stated that such issues were the concern ...

put her at odds with Landauer as well. After she was convicted of

perjury Perjury (also known as foreswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an inst ...

on behalf of Ernst Frick in 1913, Landauer had her expelled from the Socialist League. In 1915, she was again convicted, to one year's imprisonment, for assisting in the procuration of

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...

s. Subsequently she principally focused on the idea of free love. In 1919, she founded a countryside

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

Herrliberg Herrliberg is a municipality in the district of Meilen in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland. History There are findings dating back to the Bronze Age. In the 8th century, a village called ''Tächliswil'' was established. A hamlet called ...

near Zürich, and in 1920 the phalanstère „Villino Graziella“ in

, near

Locarno , neighboring_municipalities= Ascona, Avegno, Cadenazzo, Cugnasco, Gerra (Verzasca), Gambarogno, Gordola, Lavertezzo, Losone, Minusio, Muralto, Orselina, Tegna, Tenero-Contra , twintowns =* Gagra, Georgia * Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic ...

, Ascona and the artists' colony of

Monte Verità Monte Verità (Italian; German 'Berg Wahrheit', meaning "Mount Truth" or "Mountain of Truth") is a 321 metres above sea level high hill and a cultural-historical ensemble in the Swiss canton of Ticino. The site is in the municipality of Ascona, ...

. Both projects eventually failed because of a lack of funds and internal disagreements. She continued working in a family enterprise with Hans Brunner, whom she married in 1950.

References

External links

* *
Website about Margarethe Hardegger
{{DEFAULTSORT:Faashardegger, Margarethe 1882 births 1963 deaths Swiss women's rights activists Swiss trade unionists 20th-century Swiss writers 20th-century Swiss women writers Swiss socialist feminists

Biography

References

Further reading

External links