Hungarian Women Writers, 1900–45

Abstract

In Hungary, the new century started with a number of encouraging events for those who hoped for a positive resolution of the ‘woman question’. The arts and medical faculties of universities had been opened to female students in 1896, and the turn of the century saw the publication of the first PhD dissertations by women scholars. In 1903 the first woman public administrator was appointed when Dr Ida Szendeffy took up the post of vice-chief of medical staff at the children’s hospice in Kolozsvár (Cluj). By degrees, and for the time being only nominally, practically every professional post — with the notable exception of the legal profession — became accessible to women. In the same year, 1903, the Social Democratic Party of Hungary adopted as part of its programme the aim of universal suffrage by secret ballot, together with the granting of fully equal rights for women.¹ The Association of Hungarian Feminists was formed in 1904, and the Hungarian branch of the International Women’s Council in 1905. The journal Feminista Értesíto (Feminist Bulletin) first appeared in 1906, the journal No és a Társadalom (Woman and Society) in 1907, and Egyesült erovel (United We Stand), the journal of the Association of Hungarian Women’s Organizations, in 1909. A great many studies and articles were published on the question of the vital need for the emancipation of women.