Elsa Gasser

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Elsa F. Gasser, portrait with book “Die Sonne”, undated

Elsa Felicya Gasser-Pfau (born June 6, 1896 in Cracow , Grand Duchy of Cracow , † August 25, 1967 in Zurich ) was a Swiss economist , business journalist and manager .

Early life

Elsa Felicya Pfau was born as the daughter of Hersch Ber Pfau in Krakow and grew up there. After finishing high school in Cracow, as a woman, she had to move to Zurich in 1913 in order to be able to study. She studied law and economics with Eugen Grossmann (1879–1963) and Manuel Saitzew . She was awarded a summa cum laude Dr. rer. pole. PhD. Elsa Gasser then worked at the statistical office in Zurich. She also worked as a trade journalist and editor for the Neue Zürcher Zeitung . In 1924 she married Joseph Beat Gasser.

Influence at Migros

In 1925 she met Gottlieb Duttweiler at the Dolder Grand Hotel . The contact was made through a former colleague from the Statistical Office named Paul Meierhans , and economic issues were discussed. Duttweiler had read Gasser's article and agreed with her opinions on the Swiss retail trade. At first Gasser gave decisive impulses at Migros without an employment contract. From 1932 to 1958 she worked as Duttweiler's right-hand man, initially as an economic expert and consultant, and later as the first female member of the Migros administration .

In the late 1940s she was a driving force behind the introduction of the first self-service shops in Switzerland in 1948. Within a short period of time, in 1950, she initiated the takeover of the book club Ex Libris . It was also she who in 1952 advocated including records in the Ex Libris range. Also in 1950 she recommended adding consumer goods and household items to the range in addition to food. Gasser rose to the management level of the Migros Group and was the only woman there for a long time. She sat in the management of the Im Grüene Foundation and the Gottlieb and Adele Duttweiler Foundation . From 1957 until her death in 1967 she worked in the administration of the Federation of Migros Cooperatives . She has written numerous magazine articles on the subjects of the economy, price developments, retail trade and industrial relations.

Gasser was also involved as an author in journalism at Migros. She often helped Duttweiler as a supporting ghostwriter with the writing of the texts.

Duttweiler described Gasser as the intellectual co-founder of Migros.

Fonts (selection)

Elsa F. Gasser: Gottlieb Duttweiler . Reprint from Swiss heads of the present . Volume I, without location, 1945.

swell

  • Curt Riess : Gottlieb Duttweiler - A biography. Wegner Hamburg + Verlag, Die Arche, Zurich 1959. New edition Europa Verlag, Zurich 2011.
  • Katja Girschik, Albrecht Ritschl , Thomas Welskopp (eds.): The Migros cosmos. On the history of an exceptional Swiss company. here + now , Baden 2003, ISBN 978-3-906419-64-0 .
  • Alfred A. Haesler ; Migros-Genossenschafts-Bund (Ed.): The Migros Adventure. The 60 year old idea. In: Federation of Migros Cooperatives. Volume 12. Migros Presse, Zurich 1985.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Anita Hugi: F-Budget. In: WOZ The weekly newspaper . February 26, 2004, accessed April 14, 2018 .
  2. ↑ a b c Bernard Degen: Elsa Felicya Gasser. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . May 17, 2005 , accessed April 14, 2018 .
  3. ^ Karl Lüönd: Still Gottlieb Duttweiler's concept. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . October 28, 2005, accessed April 14, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Gasser, Elsa
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gasser peacock, Elsa Felicya
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss economist
DATE OF BIRTH June 6, 1896
PLACE OF BIRTH Krakow , Austrian Empire
DATE OF DEATH August 25, 1967
Place of death Zurich