Heidi Witzig (born 1944), formerly known as Heidi Schäppi-Witzig and now as Heidi Witzig Vetterli, is a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

historian with a focus on women's history. She published pioneering works on women's history, and is a co-initiator of the Grandmother's Revolution. In 2021 she was awarded an honorary doctorate by the

University of Lausanne The University of Lausanne (UNIL; ) in Lausanne, Switzerland, was founded in 1537 as a school of Protestant theology, before being made a university in 1890. The university is the second-oldest in Switzerland, and one of the oldest universities ...

Biography

Witzig was born in 1944 in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

. She is the daughter of an office furniture manufacturer. She grew up in

Frauenfeld Frauenfeld (Alemannic German, Alemannic: ''Frauefäld'') is the capital of the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Canton of Thurgau, Thurgau in Switzerland. The official language of Frauenfeld is (the Swiss variety of Standard) Swiss Standard Ge ...

in the

canton of Thurgau Thurgau (; ; ; ), anglicized as Thurgovia, and formally as the Canton of Thurgau, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of five districts. Its capital is Frauenfeld. Thurgau is part of Eastern Switzerland. I ...

. She studied history and art history at the universities of

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

and

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

and earned a doctorate in Zürich with a work about the early

Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( ) was a period in History of Italy, Italian history between the 14th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Western Europe and marked t ...

in 1978. She subsequently worked as a documentalist at Schweizer Fernsehen DSR. She has been a freelance historian since 1986, with a focus on ''

Alltagsgeschichte ''Alltagsgeschichte'' ( German; and sometimes translated as 'history of everyday life') is a form of social history that emerged among West German historians in the 1980s. It was founded by Alf Lüdtke (1943–2019) and Hans Medick (born 1939). ...

'' and women's history. Her works were "motivated for a long time by the anger against the unequal treatment of women". Witzig co-wrote a pioneering source book about women's history in Switzerland alongside historian

Elisabeth Joris Elisabeth Joris (born 1946) is a Swiss historian. She has written and edited several works on gender history in Switzerland, and was co-editor of feminist magazine ''Olympe'', and co-initiator of the 1991 Swiss women's strike. She was awarded an h ...

, which was published in 1986. Witzig's 2000 book ''Polenta and Paradeplatz: Regional Everyday Life on the Way to Modern Switzerland 1880-1914'' was also considered pioneering. Witzig was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Lausanne in 2021. Around 1982, she became a

Socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

municipality councillor in

Uster Uster (; , ) is a town and the capital of the Uster District in the Swiss canton of Zürich. The importance of the town of Uster has grown considerably with the construction of the S-Bahn network of the Zürich Transport Network. With over 36,0 ...

canton of Zürich The canton of Zurich is an administrative unit (Swiss canton, canton) of Switzerland, situated in the northeastern part of the country. With a population of (as of ), it is the most populous canton of Switzerland. Zurich is the ''de facto'' Capi ...

. As a co-initiator of the ''GrossmütterRevolution'' ("Grandmothers' Revolution"), she engages in favour of "women in retiring age for a maturity in dignity and social protection for all". Heidi Witzig is a widowed mother of a daughter.

Publications (selection)

; As an author * Heidi Schäppi-Witzig: ''Die Florentiner Bürger und ihre Stadt: Eine kulturgeschichtliche Analyse des 15. Jahrhunderts.'' Zürich: Reihe W, 1978 (dissertation). * with

: ''Brave Frauen – aufmüpfige Weiber: Wie sich die Industrialisierung auf Alltag und Lebenszusammenhänge von Frauen auswirkte (1820–1940).'' Zürich: Chronos, 1992; 3rd edition in 2001. * ''Polenta und Paradeplatz: Regionales Alltagsleben auf dem Weg zur modernen Schweiz 1880–1914.'' Zürich: Chronos, 2000; 2nd edition in 2001. * ''Wie kluge Frauen alt werden: Was sie tun und was sie lassen.'' Mit Porträts von Sabine Bobst. Xanthippe, Zürich 2007; 3rd edition in 2008; pocket book edition in 2012. ; As an editor * with Elisabeth Joris: ''Frauengeschichte(n): Dokumente aus zwei Jahrhunderten zur Situation der Frauen in der Schweiz.'' Zürich: Limmat, 1986; 4th edition in 2001. * with Felix Müller and Kathrin Arioli: ''Unruhige Verhältnisse: Frauen und Männer im Zeitalter der Gleichberechtigung. 15 Porträts aus dem Kanton Zürich.'' Zürich: Limmat, 2002.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Witzig, Heidi 1944 births Living people 20th-century Swiss historians Swiss women historians 21st-century Swiss historians Women's historians Swiss feminists Socialist feminists Feminist historians 20th-century Swiss politicians 20th-century Swiss women politicians Social Democratic Party of Switzerland politicians Women local politicians University of Zurich alumni Politicians from Zurich