Marthe Gosteli

Marthe Gosteli (born December 22, 1917 in Worblaufen , today the municipality of Ittigen ; † April 7, 2017 in Muri near Bern ; entitled to live in Bolligen ) was a Swiss women's rights activist .

Life

Marthe Gosteli was born in 1917 on her parents' farm in Worblaufen near Bern . She completed a commercial apprenticeship and spent time learning French and English at a young age in western Switzerland and London .

During the Second World War she worked for the press and radio communications department of the Swiss Army Staff. After the war, from 1949 to 1953 and again from 1955 to 1962, she headed the film department of the information service at the US Embassy in Bern.

From the mid-1960s onwards, she put her experience with the media at the service of the Swiss women's movement . From 1964 to 1968 she was president of the Bernese women's suffrage association, of which she was a member from 1953 to 1957 and 1963/1964. From 1968 to 1972 she was a member of the board and from 1967 to 1971 Vice President of the Federation of Swiss Women's Associations .

In 1970/1971 she presided over the working group of the Swiss women's associations for the political rights of women . With its negotiating skills with the Federal Council, this organization made a significant contribution to the acceptance of women's suffrage at the federal level.

In 2000 she published the book Forgotten History - Histoire oubliée on the history of the Swiss women's movement from 1914 to 1963. She died in April 2017 at the age of 99.

Gosteli Foundation

Gate to the Gosteli Foundation with house entrance (2011)

Marthe Gosteli founded the archive on the history of the Swiss women's movement and in 1982 the Gosteli Foundation . This looks after the archive material of most women's associations as well as the estates of important women of contemporary history. The archive is a unique institution in Switzerland and can be described as the historical memory of the Swiss women's movement.

Because the financing of the Gosteli archive is not secured, parliamentary proposals were submitted and the Federal Council proposed three options for continuation in 2019. With the launch of a petition in mid-April 2020, the demand for the archive to continue to exist, namely in Worblaufen, is to be emphasized.

Awards

1989: Trudy Schlatter Prize
1992: Citizen Medal of the Civic Community of Bern
1995: Honorary doctorate from the University of Bern
2008: Silver Medal of Merit of the Economic and Charitable Society of the Canton of Bern .
2011: Human rights award of the Swiss section of the International Society for Human Rights , together with the historian Beatrix Mesmer
2017: Culture Prize of the Bernese Burgergemeinde

Publications as editor

Forgotten history - Histoire oubliée: Illustrated chronicle of the women's movement 1914–1963. Chronique illustrée du mouvement féministe 1914–1963. 2 volumes. Stämpfli, Bern 2000, ISBN 3-7272-9256-3 .
Verena E. Müller : An eventful past. 20 years archive on the history of the Swiss women's movement. Stämpfli, Bern 2002, ISBN 3-7272-1270-5 .
with Peter Moser: Une paysanne entre ferme, marché et associations. Textes d'Augusta Gillabert-Randin 1918–1940. Hier + now, Baden 2005, ISBN 3-03-919012-1 .
Alice Meyer : Adaptation or Resistance: Switzerland at the Time of German National Socialism . Newly published with a preface by Marthe Gosteli and an afterword by Christa Altorfer . Huber, Frauenfeld / Stuttgart / Vienna 2010, ISBN 978-3-7193-1542-9 .

literature

Franziska Rogger : "Give the Swiss women their story!" Marthe Gosteli, her archive and the overlooked struggle for women's suffrage. Verlag Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Zurich 2015, ISBN 978-3-03810-006-5 .

Franziska Rogger: "Marthe Gosteli". How she saved the story of the Swiss women. Stämpfli Verlag, Bern 2017, ISBN 978-3-7272-7903-4 .

Web links

Literature by and about Marthe Gosteli in the catalog of the German National Library
Regula Ludi : Marthe Gosteli. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
Marthe Gosteli on the website of the Gosteli Foundation and the archive on the history of the Swiss women's movement
Fight for voting rights Video in: " Rundschau " from February 9, 2011 (9 minutes); Conversation with Marthe Gosteli (12 minutes): Online .

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Stefanie Christ: Marthe Gosteli's fight for women's rights is over. In: Berner Zeitung of April 7, 2017.
↑ Place of death Muri near Bern according to information from the Gosteli Foundation of April 21, 2017.
↑ The Federal Council proposes solutions to support the archive of the Gosteli Foundation. Retrieved May 19, 2019 .
↑ https://www.gendercampus.ch/de/aktuelles/neuheiten/petition-das-gosteli-archiv-muss-weiterbestehen/ , accessed on April 26, 2020.
↑ Human Rights Prize: Honoring Gosteli ( Memento from January 25, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), SF Tagesschau , December 10, 2011, accessed on December 16, 2011.

personal data
SURNAME	Gosteli, Marthe
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Swiss women's rights activist
DATE OF BIRTH	December 22, 1917
PLACE OF BIRTH	Worblauf
DATE OF DEATH	April 7, 2017
Place of death	Muri near Bern

[bz-1] Stefanie Christ: Marthe Gosteli's fight for women's rights is over. In: Berner Zeitung of April 7, 2017.

[sterbeort-2] Place of death Muri near Bern according to information from the Gosteli Foundation of April 21, 2017.

[3] The Federal Council proposes solutions to support the archive of the Gosteli Foundation. Retrieved May 19, 2019 .

[4] ttps://www.gendercampus.ch/de/aktuelles/neuheiten/petition-das-gosteli-archiv-muss-weiterbestehen/ , accessed on April 26, 2020.

[5] Human Rights Prize: Honoring Gosteli ( Memento from January 25, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), SF Tagesschau , December 10, 2011, accessed on December 16, 2011.