Louise Lind-af-Hageby
Encyclopedia
Emilie Augusta Louise "Lizzy" Lind-af-Hageby (September 20, 1878 – December 26, 1963) was a Swedish countess, feminist, and animal rights
advocate. She is the co-author with Leisa Shartau of The Shambles of Science (1903).
After moving to England to study medicine in 1900, Lind-af-Hageby came to public attention in 1903 when she and Shartau, another medical student, infiltrated the vivisection in University College London of a brown dog that the women said had been operated on while conscious. The researcher, William Bayliss
, said the dog had been anaesthetized, and won a much-publicized libel suit after Stephen Coleridge
, secretary of the National Anti-Vivisection Society
, accused him in public of having violated animal-cruelty legislation. The ensuing controversy, which famously led to riots in London in which medical students clashed with police, suffragettes, and trade unionists, became known as the Brown Dog affair
.
Lind af Hageby became famous for her brilliance as a speaker and debater. In a trial 1913 Lind af Hageby sued The Pall Mall Gazette for libel connected to her campaigns against vivisection and defended herself for a total of 32 hours, this at a time when women were not allowed to become attorneys. The Nation April 24 1913: "The long trial revealed the most brilliant piece of advocacy that the Bar has known since the day of Russel, though it was entirely conducted by a woman. Women it appears, may sway courts and judges, but they may not even elect to the High Court of Parliament." Lind af Hageby and Schartau forwarded social reforms and economic equality as prime methods to battle human diseases. They were both strict vegetarians.
Lind-af-Hageby was also known for having founded the British Animal Defence and Anti-Vivisection Society.
, the book contained allegations that dogs were operated on and dissected without anaesthesia in front of audiences of medical students. Publication of the book led to the Brown Dog affair, a political controversy about vivisection in England that raged from 1903 until 1910. The affair led to the British government setting up a Royal Commission on vivisection, and the introduction of new legislation.
Animal rights
Animal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings...
advocate. She is the co-author with Leisa Shartau of The Shambles of Science (1903).
After moving to England to study medicine in 1900, Lind-af-Hageby came to public attention in 1903 when she and Shartau, another medical student, infiltrated the vivisection in University College London of a brown dog that the women said had been operated on while conscious. The researcher, William Bayliss
William Bayliss
Sir William Maddock Bayliss was an English physiologist.He was born in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire and gained a B.Sc from London University. He graduated MA and DSc in physiology from Wadham College, Oxford....
, said the dog had been anaesthetized, and won a much-publicized libel suit after Stephen Coleridge
Stephen Coleridge
Stephen William Buchanan Coleridge was a UK author, barrister, opponent of vivisection and co-founder of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children....
, secretary of the National Anti-Vivisection Society
National Anti-Vivisection Society
The National Anti-Vivisection Society, is a national, not-for-profit animal welfare organization based in London whose purpose is to eliminate product testing, education and biomedical research on animals....
, accused him in public of having violated animal-cruelty legislation. The ensuing controversy, which famously led to riots in London in which medical students clashed with police, suffragettes, and trade unionists, became known as the Brown Dog affair
Brown Dog affair
The Brown Dog affair was a political controversy about vivisection that raged in Edwardian England from 1903 until 1910. It involved the infiltration of University of London medical lectures by Swedish women activists, pitched battles between medical students and the police, police protection for...
.
Lind af Hageby became famous for her brilliance as a speaker and debater. In a trial 1913 Lind af Hageby sued The Pall Mall Gazette for libel connected to her campaigns against vivisection and defended herself for a total of 32 hours, this at a time when women were not allowed to become attorneys. The Nation April 24 1913: "The long trial revealed the most brilliant piece of advocacy that the Bar has known since the day of Russel, though it was entirely conducted by a woman. Women it appears, may sway courts and judges, but they may not even elect to the High Court of Parliament." Lind af Hageby and Schartau forwarded social reforms and economic equality as prime methods to battle human diseases. They were both strict vegetarians.
Lind-af-Hageby was also known for having founded the British Animal Defence and Anti-Vivisection Society.
The Shambles of Science
She came to public attention in 1903 with the publication of The Shambles of Science, in which she and a fellow anti-vivisectionist wrote about the practice of vivisection at University College London. Based on her diary as a student at the London School of Medicine for WomenLondon School of Medicine for Women
The London School of Medicine for Women was established in 1874 and was the first medical school in Britain to train women.The school was formed by an association of pioneering women physicians Sophia Jex-Blake, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, Emily Blackwell and Elizabeth Blackwell with Thomas Henry...
, the book contained allegations that dogs were operated on and dissected without anaesthesia in front of audiences of medical students. Publication of the book led to the Brown Dog affair, a political controversy about vivisection in England that raged from 1903 until 1910. The affair led to the British government setting up a Royal Commission on vivisection, and the introduction of new legislation.
Activism
Lind-af-Hageby founded the Animal Defence and Anti-Vivisection Society in 1903. She was also president of the London Spiritualist Alliance from 1935 until 1943.Further reading
- Gålmark, Lisa. Shambles of Science, Lizzy Lind af Hageby & Leisa Schartau, anti-vivisektionister 1903-1913/14. Stockholm: Stockholm University/Federativ, 1997
- Gålmark, Lisa. Women Antivivisectionists, The Story of Lizzy Lind af Hageby and Leisa Schartau. In: Animal Issues, Philosophical and ethical issues related to human/animal interactions. Sydney: D. Russell, 2000, Vol 4, no 2, p 1-32