Verena Conzett-Knecht
Verena Conzett-Knecht (born November 28, 1861 in Zurich ; † November 14, 1947 in Kilchberg ) was a Swiss trade unionist , entrepreneur and women's rights activist .
Conzett was committed to improving the working conditions of workers from various service professions and home workers. Their main concerns were better occupational safety and insurance protection as well as shorter working hours for the workers. She was the first president of the Swiss Workers 'Union, founded in 1890, and is considered one of the most important personalities in the Swiss workers' movement of the late 19th century.
A street in District 4 of the city of Zurich is named after Verena Conzett .
Verena Knecht was already working in a dye works when she was 13, and later in a spinning mill. There she came into contact with the labor movement through Johanna Greulich , Herman Greulich's wife . Later she worked in Zurich as a tie maker and saleswoman. After her marriage to Conrad Conzett in 1883, she not only looked after her four children, but also took care of the administration of her husband's company. Many important personalities of the labor movement and the social democracy frequented her house, among them Paul Pflüger , Robert Seidel , August Bebel and Wilhelm Liebknecht .
In 1890 Verena Conzett became president of the newly founded SAV. As such, she represented the SAV at the 1st Swiss Women's Congress in Geneva in 1896. In the same year she was elected to the board of the Swiss Workers' Union , and in 1897 she represented the SP at the International Congress for Workers Protection in Zurich .
After her husband had committed suicide in 1898, she took over his printing business. Together with her lawyer, Emil Huber, she brought the company, which was on the verge of bankruptcy, to blossom again. She founded the magazine In free hours , for which she had an innovative idea: The subscription also included insurance. The entrepreneur Conzett became more and more estranged from the labor movement and turned to the middle-class, non-profit women's movement. Among other things, she initiated the establishment of the Inselhof maternity home in Zurich.
The politician and publisher Hans Conzett (1915–1996) was her grandson.
See also
Web links
- Literature by and about Verena Conzett-Knecht in the catalog of the German National Library
- Brigitte Studer: Conzett [-Knecht], Verena. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Conzett-Knecht, Verena |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Swiss trade unionist and women's rights activist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 28, 1861 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Zurich |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 14, 1947 |
| Place of death | Kilchberg |