Sidonie Werner (16 March 1860 – 27 December 1932) was a German Jewish schoolteacher and

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

based in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. She was active in the German League of Jewish Women which she founded in 1904, together with

Bertha Pappenheim Bertha Pappenheim (27 February 1859 – 28 May 1936) was an Austrian-Jewish feminist, a social pioneer, and the founder of the Jewish Women's Association (''). Under the pseudonym Anna O., she was also one of Josef Breuer's best-documented pat ...

. In 1929, she organized the World Conference of Jewish Women in Hamburg.

Biography

Born in Posen on 16 March 1860, Sidonie Werner was brought up in a well-to-do Jewish merchant's family. She attended a girls' high school before completing a course in teacher training. After first working in a Jewish school in the Hamburg suburb of Altona, she was employed by the Hamburg school authority until her retirement. In 1893, together with Gustav Tuch, she founded the ''Israelitisch-Humanitären Frauenverein'' (Israelite Humanitarian Women's Association) which she chaired from 1908 until her death, supporting activities for children and women. In parallel, she was a strong proponent of

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, ...

, supporting professional qualifications for women and encouraging them to participate in commercial and political activities. In 1904, together with Bertha Pappenheim, she founded the German League of Jewish Women where she campaigned for

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 ...

and fought against the trafficking of girls. She represented the organization both in Germany and abroad. In 1923, at the

First World Congress of Jewish Women The First World Congress of Jewish Women was held in Vienna, Austria, from 6 to 11 May 1923. It brought together some 200 delegates from over 20 countries. Zionism was a prominent topic, while emigration to Palestine for Jewish refugees was discuss ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, she gave a detailed presentation of the development of organizations for Jewish women in Germany, describing their activities in regard to support for women and children. She explained that there were some 230 women's organizations attached to the League of Jewish Women, with a total membership of 45,000. On 4 June 1929, as chair of the Hamburg Women's Association (''Hamburger Frauenverein''), Werner opened the Second World Congress of Jewish Women which was held in Hamburg. Werner established a considerable number of facilities for Jewish women and children over the years. These included a girls' home in Hamburg (1906), a children's home in

Bad Segeberg Bad Segeberg (; Low German: Sebarg) is a German town of 16,000 inhabitants, located in the state of Schleswig-Holstein, capital of the district (Kreis) Segeberg. It is situated approximately northeast of Hamburg, and west of Lübeck. It is famo ...

(1908), a children's home in Altona (1910), as well as several buildings in Bad Segeberg's Bismarckallee for children and mother care. In the late 1920s, she established a home for sick children in Wyk (1927), extending the facility in 1929. It was destroyed by fire in 1938. On the political front, representing the

German Democratic Party The German Democratic Party (, or DDP) was a center-left liberal party in the Weimar Republic. Along with the German People's Party (, or DVP), it represented political liberalism in Germany between 1918 and 1933. It was formed in 1918 from the ...

, she was a candidate for the city elections in 1919 but was not elected. Sidonie Werner died in Bad Segeberg on 27 December 1932.

Tribute

On March 16, 2021,

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celebrated her 161st birthday with a

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References

{{authority control 1860 births 1932 deaths Jews from Hamburg Politicians from Hamburg German feminists Jewish women activists German schoolteachers Jewish feminists 19th-century German educators 19th-century German women educators 20th-century German educators 20th-century German women educators