Margarethe Fass-Hardegger

Overview

Margarethe Fass-Hardegger born Bern, Switzerland February 20, 1882 (d. 1963). Swiss union organizer. Militant feminist, anti-militarist, and suffragist. Co-founded Socialist League. Led first women’s strike. Arrested twice for advocating birth control; sentenced to one year in prison. Founded three anarchist communes. Advocated abolition of Swiss army.

Quotations

“I devoted myself to a single purpose: Together with like-minded comrades to build this new society—to show you how to live together, cooperating without a wage system, without suppression—just in freedom.” (Farewell speech to union, March 31, 1909; photo margarethe-hardegger.ch)