Bertha Solomon (January 1, 1892 – November 22, 1969) was a South African lawyer and politician and one of the country's early advocates for

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), 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 c ...

.Solomon, Bertha
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Biography

Solomon was born in

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

on January 1, 1892. At four years old, she and her older sister were taken by their mother, Sonia Schwartz, to join their father, a

Zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

pioneer named Idel Schwarz, in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

.Bertha Solomon: 1892 – 1969
Jewish Women's Archive. She graduated from Anglican Diocesan College in 1911 with a BA in Classics, and then

South African College The South African College was an educational institution in Cape Town, South Africa, which developed into the University of Cape Town (UCT) and the South African College Schools (SACS). History The process that would lead to the formation of th ...

where she received an MA. Afterwards she taught Latin at Milburn House School for Girls in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

, where she met her husband Charles Solomon. They moved to

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, and had two children. Bertha Solomon began studying law, and was the second South African woman to be admitted to the bar in Johannesburg. Solomon was one of the first advocates of women's rights in South Africa, and helped fight for

women's suffrage in South Africa Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...

, which passed in 1930. In 1933 she ran for and was elected to the Transvaal Provincial Council, where she served for five years.ed. Lavinia Cohn-Sherbok (2002)
Who's Who in Jewish History
' Taylor & Francis. p. 366 In 1938, she was elected to serve as a United Party member of

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, a seat she held until her retirement in 1958. One of her accomplishments was the 1949 opening of a recreation center, which was named after her and was the first of its kind in Johannesburg. For much of her time in parliament, she championed the Matrimonial Affairs Act which finally passed in 1953, and was sometimes called “Bertha’s Bill”, which protected women's rights to property, income, and children. She was a member and leader in the National Council of Women, and founded the South African Women's Auxiliary Air Force during World War II. She was a supporter of

Hebrew University The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. It is the second-ol ...

and visited Israel a number of times. She considered herself a

, and her daughter Joan married Michael Comay, Israel's Ambassador to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

from 1960 to 1967. Solomon died on November 22, 1969.

De Villiers Graaff Sir De Villiers Graaff, 2nd Baronet, (8 December 1913 – 4 October 1999) (first name De Villiers, surname De Graeff, Graaff) known as Div Graaff, was a South African politician who succeeded his father, Sir David Graaff, 1st Baronet, Sir David ...

called Solomon "the pioneer in our Parliament of the implement for the removal of the legal disabilities of women."

Publications

Time Remembered: The Story of a Fight
'' Cape Town: Timmins. 1968. (autobiography)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Solomon, Bertha 1892 births 1969 deaths United Party (South Africa) politicians Politicians from Minsk Politicians from Johannesburg Transvaal people 20th-century South African women politicians 20th-century South African politicians South African Zionists Jewish suffragists Immigrants to South Africa South African suffragists

Biography

Publications

See also

References