Emma Pieczynska-Reichenbach (19 April 1854 – 10 February 1927) was a Swiss

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

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 ...

born in Paris, France. She was orphaned at 5 years old, and grew up with

foster families Foster care is a system in which a minor has been placed into a ward, group home (residential child care community, treatment center, etc.), or private home of a state-certified caregiver, referred to as a "foster parent" or with a family me ...

in Geneva and

Neuchâtel , neighboring_municipalities= Auvernier, Boudry, Chabrey (VD), Colombier, Cressier, Cudrefin (VD), Delley-Portalban (FR), Enges, Fenin-Vilars-Saules, Hauterive, Saint-Blaise, Savagnier , twintowns = Aarau (Switzerland), Besançon (Fra ...

. When she was old enough, she travelled to Paris, where she met and married the intellectual Stanislas Pieczynski. In 1875 she followed him to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. Horrified by the lack of education of women there, she began at once to teach reading and writing. In 1881 she turned back to help people in Switzerland. In

Leukerbad Leukerbad (french: Loèche-les-Bains, Walliser German: ''Leiggerbad'', although locally known as ''Baadu'') is a municipality in the district of Leuk in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. History The story of Leukerbad dates back to the 4t ...

she learned from the American doctor and

suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to member ...

Harriet Clisby Harriet Clisby (31 August 1830 – 30 April 1931) was an English physician, women's rights activist, and founder of the Women's Educational and Industrial Union in Boston. Early life Harriet Jemima Winifred Clisby was born in St. James's, L ...

, who familiarized her with the women's rights movement. She then got a divorce, and attended the

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by John Calvin as a theological seminary. It remained focused on theology until the 17th centur ...

to study medicine. In 1889 she traveled to the United States, where she became familiar with the organized women's right movement. In 1891 she went back to

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

and studied further. In

Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

she met

Helene von Mülinen Helene von Mülinen (27 November 1850 – 11 March 1924) was a Swiss Feminism, feminist regarded as the founder of the organized Swiss women's suffrage movement. She founded the Swiss women's suffrage movement, Bund Schweizerischer Frauenvereine ...

, who would become her life partner. She took part in the first Swiss Congress for the Interests of Women in Geneva. By this time her health had degraded enough that she had gone

deaf Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an audiological condition. In this context it is written ...

, preventing her from receiving a doctorate. Her thesis, a work on sexual education, was first published in 1898 under the title ''L'école de la pureté'' (''The School of the Pure''). Around the same time she met

Josephine Butler Josephine Elizabeth Butler (' Grey; 13 April 1828 – 30 December 1906) was an English feminist and social reformer in the Victorian era. She campaigned for women's suffrage, the right of women to better education, the end of coverture ...

, the founder of the

International Abolitionist Federation The International Abolitionist Federation (IAF; french: Fédération abolitioniste internationale), founded in Liverpool in 1875, aimed to abolish state regulation of prostitution and fought the international traffic in women in prostitution. It ...

, a group attempting to end prostitution. In 1891 she founded the first Swiss ethics organization (''sittlichkeitsverein''), the Union des femmes de Genève (Union of the Women in Geneva). Together with Mülinen she founded the

Bund Schweizerischer Frauenvereine alliance F (; by 2011) is the Federation of Swiss Women's Associations. History The presidents of the progressive women's associations from Bern ( Helene von Mülinen), Zürich ( Emma Boos Jegher), Lausanne ( Marguerite Duvillard Chavannes) and ...

in 1900. In 1906 she helped establish the Swiss Consumer League, and in 1915 she participated in the National Education Commission. She died in early 1927 in Mont-sur-Lausanne.

Works

*''L'école de la pureté'', 1898

Works

References

Further reading