Cécile Brunschvicg

Cécile Brunschvicg (French: [sesil bʁœ̃svik]), born Cécile Kahn (19 July 1877 in Enghien-les-Bains – 5 October 1946 in Neuilly-sur-Seine), was a French feminist politician. From the 1920s until her death she was regarded as "the grande dame of the feminist movement" in France.[1]

Cécile Brunschvicg
Cécile Brunschvicg in 1920.
Undersecretary of State for national education of France
In office
5 June 1936 – 21 June 1937
PresidentAlbert Lebrun
Prime MinisterLéon Blum
Preceded byHenri Guernut
indirectly
Succeeded byLéo Lagrange
Personal details
Born
Cécile Kahn

(1877-07-19)19 July 1877
Enghien-les-Bains, France
Died5 October 1946(1946-10-05) (aged 69)
Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
NationalityFrench
Political partyPRS
Spouse(s)Léon Brunschvicg

She was born into a Jewish middle-class, republican family. Her familial environment was not inclined to let women study, especially not when they were over 17. Already a "liberated" woman (for the time), it was her meeting, and subsequent marriage to, Léon Brunschvicg, a feminist philosopher and member of the Ligue des droits de l'homme, that spurred her to feminist activism; she became vice-president of the League of Electors for women's suffrage.

The French Union for Women's Suffrage (UFSF: Union française pour le suffrage des femmes) was founded by a group of feminists who had attended a national congress of French feminists in Paris in 1908, led by Jeanne Schmahl and Jane Misme.[2] The UFSF provided a less militant and more widely acceptable alternative to the Suffrage des femmes of Hubertine Auclert (1848–1914). The sole objective was to obtain women's suffrage through legal approaches.[2] The founding meeting of 300 women was held in February 1909. Cécile Brunschvicg was made secretary-general.[2] Schmahl was the first president.[3] Eliska Vincent accepted the position of honorary vice-president.[4] The UFSF was formally recognized by the International Woman Suffrage Alliance (IWFA) congress in London in April 1909 as representing the French suffrage movement.[2]

Cécile Brunschvicg was named Undersecretary of State for national education in the first Léon Blum government.

Notes
  1. Newhall 1999, pp. 145–147.
  2. Hause 2002.
  3. The Woman Movement In France and Its Leader 1911, p. 4.
  4. Rappaport 2001, p. 726.

Sources
  • Hause, Steven C. (2002). "Union Française Pour Le Suffrage Des Femmes (UFSF)". In Helen Tierney (ed.). Women's Studies Encyclopedia. Greenwood Press. Retrieved 13 March 2015.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Newhall, David S. (1999). "Brunschvicg, Cécile". Women in World History. 3: Brem-Cold. Waterford, CT: Yorkin Publications. ISBN 0-7876-4062-X.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Rappaport, Helen (2001). Encyclopedia of Women Social Reformers. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-57607-101-4. Retrieved 14 September 2013.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • "The Woman Movement In France and Its Leader". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. New York. 4 September 1911. Retrieved 23 March 2015 – via newspapers.com.
  • (in French) Biography at the University of Angers
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