Jenny Apolant

Jenny Apolant (1874-1925) was a German Jewish feminist and women's suffrage activist.[1] Apolant played a key role in the early movement for women's rights in Germany.[2]

Jenny Apolant
BornNovember 5, 1874
Berlin, Germany
DiedJune 5, 1925
Frankfurt
Spouse(s)Hugo Apolant
Parent(s)Mathilde and Emil Rathenau
RelativesWalter Rathenau and Josephine Levy-Rathenau

In 1907, Apolant established the Information Center for Women's Community Services, a project of the General German Women's Association (Allgemeinen Deutschen Frauenverein). During her time in the organization, she authored numerous writings on the role of women in German society.[1] She was a member of the Central Association of German Citizens of Jewish Faith.[1]

From 1919 to 1924, Apolant served as a DDP municipal councillor in Frankfurt, making her one of the first women to hold such position.[3] In 1922, she founded the Political Workers Association (Politische Arbeitsgemeinschaft) which provided women with political education and prepared them to hold public office.[4][5]

Biography

Jenny Rathenau was born on November 5, in Berlin, Germany to Mathilde Rathenau (née Nachman) and industrialist Emil Rathenau. She attended Humboldt Academy (Humboldtakademie) from 1891 to 1895, where she received lectures on art history and music. In 1899, Apolant married doctor and experimental cancer researcher, Hugo Apolant (1866-1915); their daughter Sophie Ella was born in January 1900.[5] The family moved to Frankfurt in 1905 for Hugo's job.[1] While in Frankfurt, she founded temperance restaurants and worked in connection with hospitals.[6]

Her husband Hugo Apolant died in 1915. Jenny Apolant suffered from financial and health problems in her later years. She was forced to stay in sanatoriums after several breakdowns, yet kept a positive spirit. Apolant died on June 5, 1925 due to a heart condition.[5] After Jenny's death, in the face of adversity from the Nazis, the Jewish Women's League recalled her as one person who was "inseparable from from the story of the German women's movement."[7] She was remembered fondly by Rabbi Georg Salzberger in his memoir.[1][8]

References
  1. "Jenny Apolant | Jewish Women's Archive". jwa.org. Retrieved 2019-01-15.
  2. Matthäus, Jürgen (2010). Roseman, Mark; Garbarini Alexandra (eds.). Jewish responses to persecution. AltaMira Press. ISBN 9780759119086. OCLC 1074442997.
  3. "Frauen Macht Politik » Jenny Apolant" (in German). Retrieved 2019-01-16.
  4. "Jenny Apolant: Eine Kämpferin für Frauenrechte - 100 Jahre Frauenwahlrecht". Journal Frankfurt. Retrieved 2019-01-16.
  5. "Frankfurter Frauenzimmer - Biografien". www.frankfurterfrauenzimmer.de. Retrieved 2019-01-15.
  6. Landman, Isaac; Rittenberg, Louis (1939). The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia: An Authoritative and Popular Presentation of Jews and Judaism Since the Earliest Times. Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, Incorporated.
  7. Matthäus, Jürgen; Matthaus, Jurgen; Roseman, Mark (2010). Jewish Responses to Persecution: 1933-1938. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-0-7591-1908-6.
  8. Salzberger, Georg (1982). Leben und Lehre (in German). W. Kramer. p. 63. ISBN 978-3-7829-0259-5.
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