Melitta Marxer facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Melitta Marxer
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| Born |
Melitta Kaiser
8 September 1923 Schaanwald, Liechtenstein
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| Died | 13 February 2015 (aged 91) |
| Nationality | Liechtensteiner |
| Occupation | Women's rights activist |
| Years active | 1960s–1980s |
| Known for | Speaking about women's suffrage at the Council of Europe in 1983 |
Melitta Marxer (born September 8, 1923 – died February 13, 2015) was a brave activist from Liechtenstein. She spent many years working and fighting so that women in her country could have the right to vote. She is best known for speaking at the Council of Europe in 1983. Her speech helped gain international support for women's voting rights in Liechtenstein.
Contents
Melitta Marxer's Fight for Equality
Early Life and Family
Melitta Kaiser was born on September 8, 1923, in Schaanwald, Liechtenstein. She grew up there with her four brothers and sisters. After finishing school, Melitta worked in a factory that made ceramic items.
In 1949, when she was 25, she married Felix Marxer. They started a family and had three daughters. As her daughters grew up, Melitta noticed that women in Liechtenstein were not treated equally. For example, only men, like her husband, could vote in elections.
Melitta strongly supported her daughters' dreams of going to college. She also joined the effort to allow girls to attend high school. This important goal was achieved in the 1960s.
Working for Women's Right to Vote
What were we supposed to do? Just sit quietly in the hope that our political rights would be recognised? Had we merely done that, we would not have the right to vote today.
After girls could go to high school, Melitta Marxer and other women's rights supporters focused on getting women the right to vote. In 1968, a public vote, called a referendum, was held on women's suffrage (the right to vote). Sadly, it failed.
These determined women then formed the Committee for Women's Suffrage (which means Komitée für das Frauenstimmrecht in German). They worked hard to gain voting rights. More referendums were held in 1971 and 1973, but they also failed. Most voters still blocked women from voting.
Aktion Dornröschen and International Support
Since they weren't making progress, in 1981, Melitta Marxer and other activists formed a group called Aktion Dornröschen. This name means "thorny rose," but it was also a clever play on words for the fairy tale "Sleeping Beauty" in German.
The women took their case to the Constitutional Court, saying their rights were being ignored. But in 1982, their case was dismissed. The government refused to look at the situation again. This meant Melitta Marxer and 11 other "Sleeping Beauty" activists had to try something different.
They traveled across Europe, telling people about the lack of rights for women in Liechtenstein. In 1983, they arrived in Strasbourg, France. There, Melitta Marxer and the others presented their concerns to the Council of Europe.
This action brought some criticism back home in Liechtenstein. Some people thought it was wrong to bring the country into the international spotlight. However, it worked! On July 2, 1984, the male voters in Liechtenstein finally granted full voting rights to women.
Legacy
In 2002, a Swiss documentary film called Die andere Hälfte (The Other Half) was made. It told the story of Melitta Marxer and the long struggle for women's rights in Liechtenstein.
Melitta Marxer passed away on February 13, 2015. Her efforts helped bring about a major change for women in her country.
