Betty Karpíšková (14 June 1881 – 31 October 1942) was a

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

n politician. In 1920 she was one of the first group of women elected to the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

. A prominent member of the Czechoslovak Social Democratic Workers' Party (ČSDSD), she remained in parliament until 1939. She was killed in

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) d ...

in 1942.

Biography

Karpíšková was in the

Žižkov Žižkov ( or ''Zizkow'', between 1939 and 1945 ''Veitsberg'') is a cadastral district of Prague, Czech Republic. Most of Žižkov lies in the municipal and administrative district of Prague 3, except for very small parts which are in Pra ...

district of

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

in 1881. She joined the ČSDSD, becoming a member of its local and district committee in

Kolín Kolín (; ) is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 33,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument reservations, urban monume ...

, where she also served as a municipal councillor. In 1919 she became editor of the ''Ženské noviny'' periodical, and served as its editor-in-chief from 1921 until 1938. In 1920 Karpíšková was a ČSDSD candidate for the Chamber of Deputies in the

parliamentary elections A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...

, and was one of sixteen women elected to parliament.Aleš Ziegler (2011
Úloha ţen v prvních československých parlamentních volbách roku 1920
pp85, 88–89 101 She was re-elected to the Chamber of Deputies in

1925 Events January * January 1 – The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria (1925–1930), State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini m ...

and then to the Senate in

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

and

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...

, remaining in parliament until 1939. Between 1927 and 1938 she served as vice chair of the ČSDSD, after which she became a member of the National Labour Party which the ČSDSD had merged into. Following the

Nazi occupation German-occupied Europe, or Nazi-occupied Europe, refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly militarily occupied and civil-occupied, including puppet states, by the (armed forces) and the government of Nazi Germany at ...

, she was arrested in May 1941 alongside several other party officials, including her husband, son and son-in-law. Initially imprisoned in

Pankrác Prison Pankrác Prison, officially Prague Pankrác Remand Prison (), is a prison in Prague, Czech Republic. A part of the Czech Prison Service, it is located southeast of Prague city centre in Pankrác, not far from Pražského povstání metro stati ...

and then

Theresienstadt Ghetto Theresienstadt Ghetto was established by the SS during World War II in the fortress town of Terezín, in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia ( German-occupied Czechoslovakia). Theresienstadt served as a waystation to the extermination c ...

, she was transferred to

on 31 October 1942, where she was sent to the gas chambers shortly after her arrival.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karpíšková, Betty 1881 births Politicians from Prague Czechoslovak women in politics Czech Social Democratic Party politicians National Labour Party (1938) politicians Members of the Chamber of Deputies of Czechoslovakia (1920–1925) Members of the Chamber of Deputies of Czechoslovakia (1925–1929) Members of the Senate of Czechoslovakia (1929–1935) Czech people who died in Auschwitz concentration camp 1942 deaths Theresienstadt Ghetto prisoners People killed by gas chamber by Nazi Germany