Alice Gruner (1846–1929) was a lecturer, social worker, and a principal founder of the Women's University Settlement, Southwark (today Blackfriars Settlement).

Life and work

Alice Gruner was born in

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

in 1846, moving to England with her sister, Joan, at the age of 18. She became a naturalised British subject in 1896. Between 1883-1886 she was a student at

Newnham College, Cambridge Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millicen ...

. Gruner tutored Emily Elizabeth Constance Jones for the

Girton College Girton College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college at Cambridge. In 1948, it was granted full college status by the univ ...

entrance exams, on the recommendation of

Emily Davies Sarah Emily Davies (22 April 1830 – 13 July 1921) was an English feminist who founded Girton College, Cambridge. She campaigned as a suffragist and for women's rights to university education. In her early life, she attended meetings of the ...

. Joan Gruner, Alice's sister, had been a student at Girton 1874-1877, as well as at

Trinity College, Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Univ ...

, and was a school principal. In 1887, Gruner was among the founders of the Women's University Settlement, Southwark. Alongside Gruner and other Cambridge University graduates, the original committee included educationist

Helen Gladstone Helen Gladstone (28 August 1849 – 19 August 1925) was a British educationist, vice-principal at Newnham College in Cambridge, and co-founder of the Women's University Settlement. Early life and education Helen Gladstone was born on 28 Augus ...

and social reformer

Octavia Hill Octavia Hill (3December 183813August 1912) was an English Reform movement, social reformer and founder of the National Trust. Her main concern was the welfare of the inhabitants of cities, especially London, in the second half of the nineteent ...

. Following the example of the growing University Settlement movement, their aim was to "promote the welfare of the poorer districts of London, more especially of the women and children, by devising and advancing schemes which tend to elevate them, and by giving them additional opportunities in education and recreation". For twenty years, Gruner was also Secretary to the Association of University Women Teachers, founded to protect the interests and improve the position of women teachers at the university level. Here, her 'experience and untiring devotion to the work made her a most valuable adviser both to those who offered and those who were seeking educational posts.' Her obituary in

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

noted that in this role 'she helped to raise the status of women teachers, and the standard of education in schools'. Gruner also worked for the cause of women's suffrage. Alice Gruner died on 29 December 1929.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gruner, Alice 1846 births 1929 deaths Alumni of Newnham College, Cambridge British social workers Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom Estonian emigrants to England English suffragists 19th-century English women educators