Marie Juchacz
| Marie Juchacz | |
|---|---|
_1969,_MiNr_596.jpg) |
|
| Born |
Marie Gohlke 15 March 1879 Landsberg an der Warthe, Brandenburg, Germany (In Poland since 1945) |
| Died | 28 January 1956 (aged 76) Düsseldorf, West Germany |
| Nationality | German |
| Occupation |
Politician Pioneer in the fields of women's rights and welfare |
| Political party | SPD |
| Spouse(s) | Bernhard Juchacz (married 1903: divorced 1906) |
Marie Juchacz (née Marie Gohlke; born Landsberg an der Warthe, 15 March 1879; died Düsseldorf, 28 January 1956) was a German social reformer.
She joined the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in 1908, more than ten years before women acquired the right to vote, and pursued a career that included politics, becoming, in 1919, the first female Reichstag member to address a German parliament.
Marie was the daughter of a carpenter called Theodor Gohlke and his wife Henriette. Her childhood was marked by rural poverty, and she was obliged to leave school when aged 14. After finishing at the local school in Landsberg an der Warthe, Juchacz, whose beliefs were Protestant, began work in 1893, first as a maid, and then, briefly, in a factory that made curtains and fishing nets. Her father suffered from a lung infection and since he had no health insurance, after she left school Marie's wage packet was important for keeping the family afloat. From 1896 to 1898 she worked as a nurse in the local psychiatric institution. Looking back on the long hours of poorly paid shift work at the institution she recalled that she had soon become used to "sleeping while sitting on a hard rigid chairs ("..im Sitzen auf harten, steifen Stuhlen zu schlafen...").
She later completed an apprenticeship as a dressmaker, and took a job with a taylor called Bernhard Juchacz whom, in 1903, she married. Their daughter Lotte was born in the same year. Their second child, Paul, was born in 1905, but the marriage ended in divorce in 1906 and Marie Juchacz moved to Berlin, accompanied by her two children, her younger sister, Elisabeth Kirschmann-Röhl (1888–1930). and Elisabeth's children. The sisters set up house together in Berlin with their children, forming out of necessity what was seen as an unconventional family unit. Marie worked at dressmaking until 1913.
Marie had been introduced to politics by her older brother, Otto Gohlke, who in the later 1890s had encouraged her to read popular political works of the time such as "Die Waffen nieder!" (Throw down the weapons) by Bertha von Suttner and "Die Frau und der Sozialismus" (Woman and socialism) by August Bebel. Around 1903 she met who was frequently in Landsberg where his family lived. Paetzel had an important job with "Vorwärts", a Berlin publishing house, and was also an activist with the SPD and the party candidate in the 1907 election.
...
Wikipedia