Marie Stritt (18 February 1855 – 16 December 1928) was a German

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

and a leading force in the international and German women's suffrage movement. She helped worked towards woman's education and fought against state regulated prostitution. Stritt also worked for changes regarding divorce laws through the Woman's Legal Aid Society. She was a strong proponent of

birth control Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth contr ...

and abortion.

Life

Stritt née Bacon was born on 18 February 1885 in Segesvár, Kingdom of Hungary (today Sighișoara, Romania). She had a career as an actor at the

Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe The Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe is a theatre and opera house in Karlsruhe, Germany. It has existed in its present form and place at Ettlinger Tor since 1975. Achim Thorwald became the Intendant in summer 2002 and held that post until the en ...

. In 1879 she married fellow actor and opera singer Albert Stritt (1847–1908). Stritt began her work in the late 1890s. She was an activist for many groups, including the women's group reform (1891) and the Women's Legal Aid Society (1894), organizations dedicated to fighting for women's rights to education equality and legal protection. Stritt proved an important leader in the International Woman Suffrage Alliance (IWSA), whose goal was to work towards women's education and to oppose state-regulated

prostitution Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in Sex work, sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, n ...

. Marie Stritt was one of the founders of the International Alliance of Women 1904 in Berlin, Germany. She was the chairperson of Bund Deutscher Frauenvereine from 1899 to 1910, the Deutscher Verband für Frauenstimmrecht from 1913 to 1919, and the International Alliance of Women from 1913 to 1920. Stritt's activism did not end with her retirement from the board of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance; she continued to write and participate in journalism fighting for feminism issues for the remainder of her life. Stritt died on 16 September 1928 in Dresden, Germany.

Literature

* ''Häusliche Knabenerziehung'', Berlin 1891 * ''Frauenlogik'', Dresden 1892 * ''Die Frau gehört ins Haus'', Dresden 1893 * ''Die Bestimmung des Mannes'', Dresden 1894 * ''Weibl. Schwächen'', Dresden 1894
''Der Internationale Frauenkongress in Berlin 1904'

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stritt, Marie 1855 births 1928 deaths People from Sighișoara 19th-century German people 20th-century German people German feminists German suffragists 20th-century German women