Rosika Bédy-Schwimmer – Pioneer of the International Women’s Movement – Subotica

Fact of the Hungarian figure „Margit Schlacta – The first woman to be elected to the Hungarian Parliament”

Part of the „The emancipation of women” topic

Rosika Bédy-Schwimmer (1877-1948) was a Hungarian feminist journalist and activist. She was born in 1877 into a wealthy Jewish family in Budapest. After studies in Subotica (Szabadka) she worked as a governess, then as an accountant and commercial correspondent. There she gained negative experiences that exposed her to the harsh realities faced by women in the workforce, leading her to dedicate her life to activism.In 1907, Hungary’s first feminist journal „A Nő és a Társadalom” (Woman and Society) was launched of which Bédy-Schwimmer became editor. Before the outbreak of the First World War, she moved to London, where she worked as press secretary for the International Women’s Suffrage Alliance furthering her influence in the global suffrage movement.. When the war broke out, she moved to the USA and supported initiatives that aimed to bring peace about. She supported the Hungarian National Council and was appointed Ambassador to Switzerland by Mihály Károlyi, making her the first female ambassador. Altough her diplomatic mission was not a success, but her appointment was a significant turning point in itself. When the proletarian dictatorship was established, she fled to the USA once more, where she continued her work in feminism and pacifism. She died in New York in 1948.