Mathilde Wurm ( Adler; 30 September 1874 – 31 March or 1 April 1935) was a German politician,

social work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...

er and journalist. She represented the

Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together w ...

and the

Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany The Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (, USPD) was a short-lived political party in Germany during the German Empire and the Weimar Republic. The organization was established in 1917 as the result of a split of anti-war members of t ...

in the Reichstag from 1920 to 1933.

Life and career

Wurm was born Mathilde Adler in 1874 to a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

. She moved to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and began working as a

er in 1896. She was particularly interested in helping girls to receive

vocational training Vocational education is education that prepares people for a Skilled worker, skilled craft. Vocational education can also be seen as that type of education given to an individual to prepare that individual to be gainfully employed or self em ...

, which led to her co-founding Berlin's first apprenticeship placement and counselling service for female school-leavers. In 1904 she married , a journalist who later entered politics. Wurm was involved in

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 ...

circles from a young age, and was a longstanding member of the

(SDP). After marriage, she mainly worked as a journalist and was active in the women's movement of the SPD, through which she regularly corresponded with

Rosa Luxemburg Rosa Luxemburg ( ; ; ; born Rozalia Luksenburg; 5 March 1871 – 15 January 1919) was a Polish and naturalised-German revolutionary and Marxist theorist. She was a key figure of the socialist movements in Poland and Germany in the early 20t ...

Clara Zetkin Clara Zetkin (; ; ''née'' Eißner ; 5 July 1857 – 20 June 1933) was a German Marxist theorist, communist activist, and advocate for women's rights. Until 1917, she was active in the Social Democratic Party of Germany. She then joined the Inde ...

and Luise Kautsky. In 1919 she was elected to the (Berlin City Council). When her husband Emanuel died in 1920, Mathilde assumed his seat in the Reichstag Ministry of Food under the

(USPD). Wurm retained her seat in the Reichstag—alternately as a member of both the SPD and USPD—until the dissolution of the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

in 1933. During 1922 and 1923 she edited the USPD magazine ''Die Kämpferin'' (''The Female Fighter''), later named ''Die Gleichheit'' (''Equality''), and although she was not religious, she remained active in the Berlin Jewish community until 1924.

Exile

When

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

came into power in 1933, Wurm initially remained in Germany to defend her constituents. However, her property was confiscated and she became homeless, often spending the night on a train. She left Germany for Switzerland in May 1933, where she stayed with her sister, Josephine Cohn, for eight months. She scraped a living as a typist before moving to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on 3 February 1934 to visit her nephew Arthur Campbell. In London, she lived with fellow political activist and émigré Dora Fabian firstly in a flat on

Guilford Street Guilford Street is a road in Bloomsbury in central London, England, designated the B502. From Russell Square it extends east-northeast to Gray's Inn Road. Note that it is not spelt the same way as Guildford in Surrey. It is, in fact, named afte ...

Death

Wurm and Fabian were found dead in their flat at 12,

Great Ormond Street Great Ormond Street Hospital (informally GOSH, formerly the Hospital for Sick Children) is a children's hospital located in the Bloomsbury area of the London Borough of Camden, and a part of Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foun ...

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London, part of the London Borough of Camden in England. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural institution, cultural, intellectual, and educational ...

, London, on 4 April 1935 and were found to have died either on 31 March or on 1 April 1935. While suicide was suspected, the deaths were treated as suspicious. The case was covered in the British press and presumed to have been a double suicide by barbitone poisoning. Due to the suspicious circumstances surrounding the two women's deaths and the lack of a motive, some observers suggested that they had been killed by

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

officers, but a coroner's inquest resulted in a verdict of "suicide while of unsound mind".

References