Zonta International

Zonta International (ZI) is an international service club of working women in positions of responsibility who work to improve the lives of women in legal, political, economic, professional and health terms. The motto is Advancing the Status of Women Worldwide through Service and Advocacy . Zonta International is non-partisan, non-denominational and ideologically neutral. Zonta International is headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois . As a non-governmental organization with consultative status, Zonta has been represented at the UN since it was founded in 1945. The president is Susanne von Bassewitz .

history

The "Confederation of Zonta Clubs" was founded on November 8, 1919 in Buffalo , New York , by the journalist and playwright Marion De Forest . The name "Zonta" comes from the Lakota , a language of the Sioux family , and means "honorable", "integrity" and "trustworthy". Bea Solomon, founder of the Bea and Irving Solomon Award, composed the Zonta song Voice, Hands and Hearts in 1972 . In 2019/20 numerous celebrations took place on the occasion of the 100th anniversary.

tasks

In cooperation with international aid organizations such as UN Women , UNICEF or UNFPA and other international non-governmental organizations (e.g. CARE International ), projects are financed that support girls and women (access to education and training programs, improvement of health care, aid in post-war reconstruction) - and crisis situations as well as targeted measures against institutionalized violence against women).

In addition to the charitable commitment, the professional advancement of young women is an essential goal of Zonta International. For this purpose, scholarships and prizes are awarded worldwide.

International conferences are held every two years, at which all clubs can have a say in Zonta's future projects. The International President and the other board members are elected. Dr. Susanne von Bassewitz will be the first German Zonta President for the 2018-2020 biennium.

"The Zontian" and "The Zontian eNewsletter" as well as the zonta.org website provide information about the activities.

Regional distribution

Zonta has around 30,000 members in 67 countries around the world, organized in 1,200 local Zonta Clubs (ZC).

The first ZC in Europe was founded in Vienna in 1931 . There are currently 14 Zonta clubs in Austria and 21 in Switzerland.

The first ZC in Germany was formed in Hamburg in 1931 , followed by ZC Munich I in 1952 and ZC Wiesbaden in 1954 . Today there are 128 Zonta clubs in Germany with around 4600 members who are united in the Union of German Zonta Clubs. Every two years Zonta Union conferences take place, the participation of which is mandatory for all clubs in Germany.

In addition to international projects, each Zonta Club also supports local and regional women's projects, which the respective club websites provide information on.

Other club members invite you to become a member of Zonta.

Known Zontians

Marian de Forest (1864-1935), journalist and dramaturge; Founder of Zonta
Rosa Schapire (1874–1954), art historian and patron of the artist group Brücke
Alma del Banco (1863–1943), painter
Harriet Wegener (1890–1980), author and politician
Gertrud Bing (1892–1964), art historian and philosopher
Klotilde Gollwitzer-Meier (1894–1954), doctor and physiologist
Amelia Earhart (1897– missing 1937), American aviation pioneer and women's rights activist
Magdalene Schoch (1897–1987), lawyer and from 1931 chairwoman of the newly founded Zonta Club in Hamburg for six years
Beatrix Kempf (1908–2009), editor, later editor-in-chief of the Austrian Federal Press Service
Lisa Dräger (1920–2015), patron and founder of the Lisa Dräger Foundation
Julia Dingworth-Nusseck (* 1921)
Margaret Thatcher (1925–2013), British politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990
Elisabeth Moltmann-Wendel (1926–2016), founding member of the ZC Reutlingen
Lore Maria Peschel-Gutzeit (* 1932), lawyer and politician, former Justice Senator from Hamburg and Berlin
Hannelore Kohl (1933–2001), founder and until her death in 2001 president of the Hannelore Kohl Foundation, honorary member of the ZC Ludwigshafen
Pia Rumler-Detzel (1934), lawyer
Rita Süssmuth (* 1937), educationalist and politician, from 1988 to 1998 President of the German Bundestag; is an honorary member of Zonta International
Queen Silvia of Sweden (* 1943), founder of the World Childhood Foundation, patron of 62 charitable organizations
Herta Däubler-Gmelin (* 1943), German lawyer and politician (SPD)
Birte Toepfer (1945–2010), patron and chairwoman of the foundation board
Angelika Menne-Haritz (* 1949), archivist, director of studies at the Marburg archive school from 1988 to 1993, director of the Marburg archive school from 1994 to 2001, and vice-president of the Federal Archives from 2006 to 2014
Sylvia Krauss-Meyl (* 1951), historian, archivist and author
Katarina Barley (* 1968), German politician (SPD)

literature

Edwin A. Biedermann: Lodges, clubs and brotherhoods. Droste-Verlag: Düsseldorf 2007, ISBN 3-7700-1184-8
Sebastian Gradinger: Service Clubs - for the institutionalization of solidarity and social capital. VDM Verlag 2007.
Eva Hehemann: Women's society (s) in Germany - from private parties to professional associations. Aviva Verlag : Berlin 2010, pp. 136–141.
Traute Hoffmann: The first German ZONTA club. On the trail of extraordinary women. Dölling und Gallwitz Verlag: München / Hamburg 1st edition 2002, 2nd revised edition 2006, 3rd edition in preparation for autumn 2019.

Technical articles

Service Clubs: “Quality counts more than vitamin B”, Simon Hage in conversation with Sebastian Gradinger in: manager-magazin.de, November 16, 2006.

Web links

Individual evidence

^ Petra Kammann: Susanne von Bassewitz. A FeuilletonFrankfurt interview with the first German Zonta president. In: FeuilletonFrankfurt.de. May 6, 2019, accessed November 14, 2019 .
^ The library of Congress (ed.): Catalog of Copyright Entries: Third series . volume 26, part 5, number 2, section 2. Washington 1973.
↑ Traute Hoffmann: The first German ZONTA club: On the trail of extraordinary women . Dölling and Galitz Verlag, Hamburg / Munich 2002, ISBN 978-3-937904-43-6 .
↑ Carolin Vogel: The Dehmelhaus in Blankenese. Künstlerhaus between remembering and forgetting , Hamburg University Press 2019, p. 255, ISBN 978-3-943423-60-0 . PDF version accessed on July 23, 2019.
↑ Magdalene Schoch. Retrieved October 28, 2019 (German).

[1] Petra Kammann: Susanne von Bassewitz. A FeuilletonFrankfurt interview with the first German Zonta president. In: FeuilletonFrankfurt.de. May 6, 2019, accessed November 14, 2019 .

[2] The library of Congress (ed.): Catalog of Copyright Entries: Third series . volume 26, part 5, number 2, section 2. Washington 1973.

[3] Traute Hoffmann: The first German ZONTA club: On the trail of extraordinary women . Dölling and Galitz Verlag, Hamburg / Munich 2002, ISBN 978-3-937904-43-6 .

[4] Carolin Vogel: The Dehmelhaus in Blankenese. Künstlerhaus between remembering and forgetting , Hamburg University Press 2019, p. 255, ISBN 978-3-943423-60-0 . PDF version accessed on July 23, 2019.

[5] Magdalene Schoch. Retrieved October 28, 2019 (German).