The Lithuanian Women's Association () was the first

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

n women's organization. It was active during the

Russian Revolution of 1905 The Russian Revolution of 1905, also known as the First Russian Revolution, was a revolution in the Russian Empire which began on 22 January 1905 and led to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy under the Russian Constitution of 1906, t ...

and campaigned for

women's suffrage 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 ...

and for autonomy of Lithuania within the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

Establishment

In the context of the revolution, Lithuanian women became more active. Both Lithuanian political parties,

Social Democratic Party of Lithuania The Social Democratic Party of Lithuania (, LSDP) is a centre-left and social democratic political party in Lithuania. Founded as an underground Marxist organisation in 1896, it is the oldest extant party in Lithuania. During the time of the ...

and

Lithuanian Democratic Party The Lithuanian Democratic Party (, LDP) was a political party in Lithuania. The original party was established in 1902. It published newspapers ''Lietuvos ūkininkas'' (1905–1918) and ''Lietuvos žinios'' (1909–1915). During World War I, the ...

, supported

and had women members. On 13 June 1905, about 50 women gathered in Zubovai Palace in

Šiauliai Šiauliai ( ; ) is a city in northern Lithuania, the List of cities in Lithuania, country's fourth largest city and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, sixth largest city in the Baltic States, with a population of 112 581 in 202 ...

to discuss women's situation in Lithuania. They discussed

women's movements This is a list of women's organization by civics International * All India Democratic Women's Association – founded in 1981 to achieve women's emancipation in India Yes Helping Hand– Founded in 2009 for empowerment and employment of Women, D ...

in Poland and Russia and debated whether to join them or create a separate organization. They did not reach a decision and established only an information center which was to gather and disseminate information on women's movements abroad. On 6 August 1905, the election law was passed in preparation for the

legislative election 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 ...

to the newly established

Russian State Duma The State Duma is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, with the upper house being the Federation Council. It was established by the Constitution of the Russian Federation in 1993. The Duma headquarters are located in central Mos ...

. The

voting rights Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in representative democracy, public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in ...

were given only to males of certain wealth. In response, women of different nationalities (Lithuanian, Polish, Jewish) gathered in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

to create an alternative election law and present it to Tsar

Nicholas II of Russia Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov; 186817 July 1918) or Nikolai II was the last reigning Emperor of Russia, Congress Poland, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 1 November 1894 until Abdication of Nicholas II, hi ...

. However, due to political disagreements over the autonomy for Lithuania, the gathering ended without a joint resolution. Each nationality created their own resolution. The Lithuanians gathered 230 signatures in support of their project, sent it to the Russian

Union for Women's Equality All-Russian Union for Women's Equality () was a liberal feminist organisation formed in the Russian Empire during the Russian Revolution of 1905. The Union demanded equal political, particularly voting, rights to women. The Union had main centers ...

, and were invited to the All-Russian Women's Congress. All these events necessitated establishment of a Lithuanian women's organization. The Lithuanian Women's Association was established on 22–23 September 1905 in

. The elected board included

Felicija Bortkevičienė Felicija Bortkevičienė ''née'' Povickaitė (1 September 1873 – 21 October 1945) was a Lithuanian politician and long-term publisher of ''Lietuvos ūkininkas'' and ''Lietuvos žinios''. She became active in public life after she moved to Vil ...

, Ona Pleirytė-Puidienė, and Stanislava Landsbergaitė (eldest daughter of

Gabrielius Landsbergis-Žemkalnis Gabrielius Landsbergis-Žemkalnis (1852–1916) was a Lithuanian playwright and activists of the early Lithuanian amateur theater. Born to an old noble family, Landsbergis attended Šiauliai Gymnasium where his friend Petras Vileišis encourage ...

). The meeting adopted Association's program, which called for: #autonomy for Lithuania within its ethnographic borders with a parliament (

Seimas The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania (), or simply the Seimas ( ; ), is the unicameralism, unicameral legislative body of the Lithuania, Republic of Lithuania. The Seimas constitutes the legislative branch of Government of Lithuania, govern ...

) elected via universal, equal, secret, and direct elections (almost exactly the same demand was passed by the

Great Seimas of Vilnius The Great Seimas of Vilnius (, also known as the ''Great Assembly of Vilnius'', the ''Grand Diet of Vilnius'', or the ''Great Diet of Vilnius'') was a major assembly held on December 4 and 5, 1905 (November 21–22, 1905 Old Style and New Style d ...

in December 1905) #equal rights for men and women #open membership (i.e. both men and women were welcome) However, the association was not a legal organization as it was not registered with the Tsarist authorities.

Activities

In its program, the association listed several goals and ways to reach them. It wanted to prepare responses to theoretical questions on gender equality, develop

political consciousness Following the work of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Karl Marx outlined the workings of a political consciousness. The politics of consciousness Consciousness typically refers to the idea of a being who is self-aware. It is a distinction often r ...

of the society in general and women in particular, agitate for equal rights via books, brochures, articles, lectures and other methods both in urban and rural areas, provide assistance to women seeking professional education, seek improvements in working women's conditions, establish

professional association A professional association (also called a professional body, professional organization, or professional society) is a group that usually seeks to advocacy, further a particular profession, the interests of individuals and organisations engaged in ...

s of women. It also sought to include a discussion of Lithuanian issues in

school curriculum In education, a curriculum (; : curriculums or curricula ) is the totality of student experiences that occur in an educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view of the student's experi ...

. The association established a number of small groups across the country where it was competing with the Polish women's movement and thus had to advocate not only for women's issues but for Lithuanian issues as well. On 25 September 1905, the association organized a meeting of various women activists in Vilnius. The goal was to familiarize with the various initiatives and discuss the upcoming elections to State Duma. It was attended by representatives from Polish and Jewish groups as well as groups from other cities. The gathering decided to boycott the election and urge voters to demand autonomy for Lithuania and a Seimas elected via universal, equal, secret, and direct elections. On 28 September the proclamation was translated in three languages and distributed in Vilnius. Although there was no separate women's group at the

on 4–5 December 1905, the Seimas was attended by several women and Ona Brazauskaitė-Mašiotienė presented on the principles of equal rights that should govern in Lithuania. Shortly after the Seimas, the Lithuanian Women's Association organized a gathering of peasant women in Latavėnai Manor (

Anykščiai District Municipality Anykščiai (; see #Name, other names) is a ski resort city in Lithuania, west of Utena, Lithuania, Utena. The Roman Catholic Church of St. Matthias in Anykščiai is the tallest church in Lithuania, with spires measuring in height. Anykščia ...

). The women agreed to seek human rights, equal rights with men, and children education in the Lithuanian language. In Vilnius, about 200 women attended a protest organized by the Union of Railroad Workers. The home of protest's secretary,

, was searched by the Tsarist police. This and other repressions dampened revolutionary moods and activities of various organizations, but Lithuanian women continued to join the Russian

in its petitions for women's suffrage. On 23–24 September 1907, Lithuanian Catholic priests organized the

First Congress of Lithuanian Women First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

Kaunas Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...

. The congress decided to establish the

Lithuanian Women's Union The Lithuanian Women's Union ( or LMS) was a women's organization active in Lithuania from 1922 to 1933. The First Congress of Lithuanian Women held in 1907 called for the establishment of the union, but it was not accomplished due to conflicts betw ...

, but women Catholics did not want to join the same organization with social democrats. Therefore, they established the Society of Lithuanian Catholic Women () which was officially registered on 21 March 1908 by the authorities of the

Kovno Governorate Kovno Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire, with its capital in Kovno (Kaunas). It was formed on 18 December 1842 by Tsar Nicholas I of Russia, Nicholas I from the western part of Vilna Govern ...

. Thus, the Lithuanian women's movement split into two branches – Catholic and social democratic.

References

{{Authority control Organizations established in 1905 Organizations disestablished in 1907 Feminist organizations in Lithuania Russian Revolution of 1905 History of Lithuania (1795–1918) Voter rights and suffrage organizations 1905 establishments in Lithuania