Gabriele Proft (20 February 1879 – 6 April 1971) was an

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n journalist, writer and politician. In 1919 she was one of eight women elected to the Constituent Assembly, becoming the country's first female parliamentarians. She remained in parliament until 1934, when she was arrested and imprisoned following the

Austrian Civil War The Austrian Civil War () of 12–15 February 1934, also known as the February Uprising () or the February Fights (), was a series of clashes in the First Austrian Republic between the forces of the authoritarian Fatherland Front (Austria), rig ...

. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

she was elected to parliament again, serving until 1953.

Biography

Proft was born in Troppau, Austria-Hungary (now

Opava Opava (; , ) is a city in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 55,000 inhabitants. It lies on the Opava (river), Opava River. Opava is one of the historical centres of Silesia and was a historical capital of Czech Sile ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

) in 1879.Gabrielle Proft
Parliament of Austria She moved to Vienna aged 17, initially working as a housemaid. She became a journalist and writer. She also became involved in politics, becoming central secretary of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

(SdP) women's organisation in 1909. She briefly served as a member of Vienna City Council in 1918. The following year she was a SdP candidate in the Constituent Assembly elections and was one of eight women elected, becoming Austria's first female parliamentarians.Erste Parlamentarierinnen in der Konstituierenden Nationalversammlung
Democracy Centre She was re-elected in

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen in Finland, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its ow ...

1923 In Greece, this year contained only 352 days as 13 days was skipped to achieve the calendrical switch from Julian to Gregorian Calendar. It happened there that Wednesday, 15 February ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Thursday, 1 March ' ...

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the BBC, British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith, 1st Baron Reith, John Reith becomes the first ...

and

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be on J ...

. Following the

in 1934, she was imprisoned. She was later jailed again from 1944 to 1945. After

Proft became deputy leader of the Social Democratic Party and chair of its women's section. She contested the November 1945 elections and returned to the National Council. She was re-elected in

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2025 * January 2 – Luis ...

, serving until the

1953 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1953. Africa * 1953 Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland election * 1953 South African general election * 1953 Southern Rhodesian federation referendum * 1953 South-West African legislative election * 1 ...

. She remained deputy leader of the party and chair of the women's section until 1959.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Proft, Gabriele 1879 births 1971 deaths 20th-century Austrian women politicians Austrian journalists Austrian writers Mauthausen concentration camp survivors Members of the Constituent National Assembly (Austria) Members of the 1st National Council (Austria) Members of the 2nd National Council (Austria) Members of the 3rd National Council (Austria) Members of the 4th National Council (Austria) Members of the 5th National Council (Austria) Members of the 6th National Council (Austria) People from Austrian Silesia Silesian-German people Social Democratic Party of Austria politicians Writers from Opava Women members of the National Council (Austria)