Louise Otto-Peters
Encyclopedia
Louise Otto-Peters was a German writer, feminist, poet, journalist, and women's rights movement activist. She often wrote under the pseudonym
of Otto Stern. She is widely acknowledged as the founder of the organized German women's movement.
taking place in Germany and supported campaigns for political and social reform. She was a friend of Robert Blum
, who became a deputy to the Frankfurt Parliament following the revolution of 1848.
Otto-Peters was inspired by the revolutionary ideas sweeping across Europe in 1848. In that year she founded the newspaper, Frauen-Zeitung (Women's News). Its masthead bore the paper's motto: Dem Reich der Freiheit werb ich Bürgerinnen! ( "I am recruiting female citizens for the realm of freedom!"). It inspired the formation of women's circles across Germany. Frauen-Zeitung was suppressed in 1852 and Otto-Peters retired from political life for a while.
In 1866, she co-founded, with Auguste Schmidt
and others, the "Allgemeiner Deutscher Frauenverein" (General Union of German Women) in Leipzig. The goals of the Union were stated in Otto-Peters' pamphlet Das Recht der Frauen auf Erwerb (Women's Right to Work).
The Union had 11,000 members by 1876. Otto-Peters served as joint president, with Schmidt, for the rest of her life. They also jointly edited the house journal, Neue Bahnen (New Paths).
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
of Otto Stern. She is widely acknowledged as the founder of the organized German women's movement.
Life
Louise Otto-Peters was the daughter of a successful lawyer. She was well educated by private tutors. Both her parents died when she was young and she was forced to consider how she would earn a living. She took up writing in the 1840s producing novels, short stories, poetry, and political articles for journals. She witnessed the effects of the industrial revolutionIndustrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
taking place in Germany and supported campaigns for political and social reform. She was a friend of Robert Blum
Robert Blum
thumb|Painting by August Hunger of Robert Blum between 1845 and 1848Robert Blum was a German democratic politician, publicist, poet, publisher, revolutionist and member of the National Assembly of 1848. In his fight for a strong, unified Germany he opposed ethnocentrism and it was his strong...
, who became a deputy to the Frankfurt Parliament following the revolution of 1848.
Otto-Peters was inspired by the revolutionary ideas sweeping across Europe in 1848. In that year she founded the newspaper, Frauen-Zeitung (Women's News). Its masthead bore the paper's motto: Dem Reich der Freiheit werb ich Bürgerinnen! ( "I am recruiting female citizens for the realm of freedom!"). It inspired the formation of women's circles across Germany. Frauen-Zeitung was suppressed in 1852 and Otto-Peters retired from political life for a while.
In 1866, she co-founded, with Auguste Schmidt
Auguste Schmidt
Auguste Schmidt, was a pioneering German feminist, educator, journalist and women's rights activist.-Life:...
and others, the "Allgemeiner Deutscher Frauenverein" (General Union of German Women) in Leipzig. The goals of the Union were stated in Otto-Peters' pamphlet Das Recht der Frauen auf Erwerb (Women's Right to Work).
The Union had 11,000 members by 1876. Otto-Peters served as joint president, with Schmidt, for the rest of her life. They also jointly edited the house journal, Neue Bahnen (New Paths).
Works
- "Schloss und Fabrik" (Castle and Factory) 1846
- "Speech of a German Girl" 1848
- "Frauenleben der Gegenwart" (The Right of Women to Participate) 1866
- "Frauenleben im Deutschen Reich" (Women's Rights in the German Reich) 1876