Adelheid Popp

Adelheid Popp (11 February 1869 in Inzersdorf now part of Vienna – 7 March 1939 in Vienna) was an Austrian feminist and socialist who worked as as a journalist and politician.

Popp was the founder of the proletarian women's movement in Austria. As a working class child Adelheid Popp had to leave school after only three years schooling and go to work in a factory. She became involved in worker meetings, where she began to speak about the situation of the female workers. In 1889, she joined the Viennese Association for the Education of Working Women. She worked twelve hours daily in the factory and then in the evening studied socialist writings and wrote articles on the situation of female workers. At weekends she spoke at party meetings.

As a member of the Austrian Social Democratic Workers Party, she became editor-in-chief of the newly founded "Arbeiterinnenzeitung" (" Female Workers' Newspaper ") in 1892. She maintained correspondence with Friedrich Engels and August Bebel who held her in high regard.

In 1893, she organized the first strike of women garment workers in Vienna's history. After this she came to the attention of the secret police and was arrested several times and imprisoned.

In 1902 she created " The Association of Social-Democratic Women and Girls ". 1918 she was elected into the party executive committee.

In 1909, she published "Die Jugendgeschichte einer Arbeiterin" (The Autobiography of a Working Woman), in which she tried to show how gender and class had dominated and constrained her life.

This was followed by a study on domestic servants, "Haussklavinnen" (Domestic Slaves), published in 1912.

In 1919, she was elected as a member of Vienna's City Council and in the same year to the Austrian parliament, where she served until 1934. In addition she became a chairwoman of the Internationalen Womens' Committee (as a successor of Clara Zetkin).

In government she pressed for a package of benefits for women such as maternity leave but without success.

Works

* "The Autobiography of a Working Woman", (published anonymously), Foreword by August Bebel, published by Ernst Reinhardt, Munich 1909, new edition: Dietz 1983, ISBN 978-3-8012-3002-9
* "Memories; From my Childhood and Girlhood Years". By Adelheid Popp, Stuttgart: Dietz 1915

References

* [http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/dinner_party/heritage_floor/adelheip_popp.php Broolkyn Museum] "The Dinner party database. Accessed May 2007