Sime Seruya (1876–1955) was a Portuguese actress,

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to vo ...

and socialist who campaigned in Britain. She was a member of the

Women's Social and Political Union The Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) was a women-only political movement and leading militant organisation campaigning for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom founded in 1903. Known from 1906 as the suffragettes, its membership and p ...

(WSPU), the

Women's Freedom League The Women's Freedom League was an organisation in the United Kingdom from 1907 to 1961 which campaigned for women's suffrage, pacifism and sexual equality. It was founded by former members of the Women's Social and Political Union after the Pa ...

(WFL),

Women's Tax Resistance League The Women's Tax Resistance League (WTRL) was from 1909 to 1918 a direct action group associated with the Women's Freedom League that used tax resistance to protest against the disenfranchisement of women during the British women's suffrage mov ...

(WTRL) and was a co-founder of the

Actresses' Franchise League The Actresses' Franchise League was a women's suffrage organisation, mainly active in England. Founding In 1908 the Actresses' Franchise League was founded by Gertrude Elliott, Adeline Bourne, Winifred Mayo and Sime Seruya at a meeting in ...

(AFL).

Biography

Seruya was born in

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

, Portugal in 1876. She worked as an actress in Portugal before arriving in London in 1906. She lived in West Lewisham. Seruya joined the

(WSPU) in 1907 and donated £100 to the cause. Also in 1907, she was arrested and sentenced to 14 days in prison for taking part in a women's suffrage deputation outside the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

. By Autumn, she was among the seventy members of the WSPU who left to form the

(WFL). In 1909, she also joined the

(WTRL). In 1908, Seruya founded the

(AFL), with Gertrude Elliott, Winifred Mayo and

Adeline Bourne Adeline Bourne (8 January 1873 – 8 February 1965) was a British Anglo-Indian actress, suffragette and charity worker.'Miss Adeline Bourne: Actress and suffragette', ''The Times'', 10 February 1965 Early life Bourne was born Selina "Lena" Mans ...

. The League represented actresses of both militant and non-militant suffrage tendencies. Seruya organised the WFL contribution to ''A Pageant of Great Women'' in 1910 with fellow actress

Edith Craig Edith Ailsa Geraldine Craig ( Edith Godwin; 9 December 1869 – 27 March 1947), known as Edy Craig, was a prolific theatre director, producer, costume designer and early pioneer of the women's suffrage movement in England. She was the daughte ...

. In 1910, Seruya began selling feminist books and suffrage collectables (including postcards that she had published) out of one of Edith Craig and her partner

Christabel Marshall Christabel Gertrude Marshall (aka Christopher Marie St John) (24 October 1871 – 20 October 1960) was a British campaigner for women's suffrage, a playwright and author. Marshall lived in a ménage à trois with the artist Clare Atwood a ...

's rooms at 31 Bedford Street, London, founding the "International Suffrage Shop." She published an advertisement in the ''

Votes for Women Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...

'' newspaper about the opening of the shop. In March 1911 the shop moved to larger premises on Adam Street in the

Strand Strand or The Strand may refer to: Topography *The flat area of land bordering a body of water, a: ** Beach ** Shoreline * Strand swamp, a type of swamp habitat in Florida Places Africa * Strand, Western Cape, a seaside town in South Africa * ...

. That year, Seruya also fought successfully against a conviction for selling ''Votes for Women'' on the steps of the Lyceum Theatre. Seruya was also 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 ...

and a member of the

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberal Party (UK), Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse work ...

and the

Fabian Society The Fabian Society () is a History of the socialist movement in the United Kingdom, British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in ...

. In 1908, she was the honorary treasurer of the Penal Reform League and in 1910 she attended the 8th International Socialist Congress in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

, Denmark. In the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

, she was a member of the Film and Photo League and was involved in the workers film movement with other left wing activists such as

Ivor Montagu Ivor Goldsmid Samuel Montagu (23 April 1904, in Kensington, London – 5 November 1984, in Watford) was an English filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, film critic, writer, table tennis player, and Communist activist and spy in the 1930s. He help ...

, Eva Reckitt, Ernie Trory and others. She was also active in the Women's Committee for the Relief of the Miners' Wives and Children, after the

1926 United Kingdom general strike The 1926 general strike in the United Kingdom was a general strike that lasted nine days, from 4 to 12 May 1926. It was called by the General Council of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in an unsuccessful attempt to force the British government ...

and subsequent miners' lockout. She had a son, Ivan Seruya, who was a member of the

Friends of the Soviet Union The International Association of Friends of the Soviet Union was an organization formed on the initiative of the Communist International in 1927, with the purpose of coordinating solidarity efforts with the Soviet Union around the world. It grew out ...

and the

Young Communist League The Young Communist League (YCL) is the name used by the youth wing of various Communist parties around the world. The name ''YCL of ountry' originates from the precedent established by the Communist Youth International. Examples of YCLs includ ...

as a student at

Regent Street Polytechnic The University of Westminster is a public university, public university based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1838 as the Royal Polytechnic Institution, it was the first Polytechnic (United Kingdom), polytechnic to open in London. The Po ...

. She died in 1955.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seruya, Sime 1876 births 1955 deaths Suffragists from London Actors from the London Borough of Lewisham Actresses from Lisbon 20th-century Portuguese actresses Independent Labour Party members Members of the Fabian Society Portuguese emigrants to England Portuguese socialists Portuguese suffragists Portuguese women activists Women's Freedom League Women's Social and Political Union