Princess Gabrielle Jeanne Anne Marie Radziwill (14 March 1878 – 9 January 1968) was a Lithuanian nurse,

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ''a ...

and

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

activist. She was one of first women to join the

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

where she was active from 1920 to 1934. She was born in Berlin as the daughter of the Polish aristocrats Wilhelm Radziwiłł and his wife Catherine, née Rzewuska. Her grandfathers were Russian general

Adam Rzewuski Adam Rzewuski (, tr. ; 1801 – April 17, 1888) was a Polish-Russian general. He was born in Pohrebyshche in the Kiev Governorate of the Russian Empire (present-day Ukraine). He participated in wars in Poland and the Crimea. He died in Kiev. He ...

and Prussian general . Before joining the Secretariat of the League of Nations in November 1920, Radziwill had spent two years working for the Russian

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

on the Russian-Persian front where she was in charge of hospitals. Active in women's organizations, in the League she was a strong supporter of women's interests, calling for cooperation with the women's movement. In connection with relationships between the League and women's societies, she stressed: "I shall always be ready to do what I can to help and further the aims of the women's organizations — even when I do not see eye to eye with them!" In the League of Nations, she was initially employed as a Senior Assistant in the Information Section but was promoted to Member of Section in 1927. In 1931, she was transferred to the Social Questions and Opium Traffic Section and, in 1934, to the Intellectual Cooperation and International Bureaux Section where she worked until she left in December 1938. Speaking at the

International Council of Women The International Council of Women (ICW) is a women's organization working across national boundaries for the common cause of advocating women's rights, human rights for women. In March and April 1888, women leaders came together in Washington D.C ...

congress in 1925, Radziwill announced that the "League needs the work of women, and we women need the League of Nations' help, because the work that we are doing can only bear fruit if it is really sanctioned by our Governments and we women must help this sanction to be given."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Radziwill, Gabrielle 1878 births 1968 deaths League of Nations people Lithuanian feminists Lithuanian nurses European pacifists Pacifist feminists People associated with the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement Activists from Berlin Princesses of Poland Gabrielle

See also

References