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Zoe Arion to Emilia Dr. Rațiu, Bucharest, October 1905

written by Zoe Arion, fl. 1905 (Romania. Arhivele Nationale. Arhivele Nationale Istorice Centrale Bucharest, 734/1905, Fond 1246 Personal Fond Dr. Ioan Ratiu, ff. 1-5) (October 1905) , 11 page(s)

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TITLE: Zoe Arion to Emilia Dr. Rațiu, Bucharest, October 1905. DESCRIPTION: Letter sent by Zoe Arion from Bucharest (in the Romanian Kingdom) to Emilia Rațiu (in Sibiu/Nagyszeben/Hermannstadt, Kingdom of Hungary at the time). Zoe Arion was the daughter of Romanian Army General and diplomat Eracle Arion, likely some twenty years youger than her correspondent. Emilia Rațiu (1846-1929) was a Transylvanian Romanian nationalist activist and a frequ... TITLE: Zoe Arion to Emilia Dr. Rațiu, Bucharest, October 1905. DESCRIPTION: Letter sent by Zoe Arion from Bucharest (in the Romanian Kingdom) to Emilia Rațiu (in Sibiu/Nagyszeben/Hermannstadt, Kingdom of Hungary at the time). Zoe Arion was the daughter of Romanian Army General and diplomat Eracle Arion, likely some twenty years youger than her correspondent. Emilia Rațiu (1846-1929) was a Transylvanian Romanian nationalist activist and a frequent contributor to Familia magazine. She was married to Romanian National Party leader Ioan Rațiu. She was president of the Reunion of Romanian Women in the town of Turda, founder of the Women’s Reading Society in the same town in 1873, and an initiator of several other social reform and welfare activities. She led international mobilization efforts in favor of the claims of Transylvanian Romanians within Austria Hungary, especially following the arrest of Ioan Rațiu in 1894. ¶ This letter expresses the opinion that, despite the Emperor’s many faults, the monarch had begun to see the mistakes of the Hungarians. Arion articulates that Romanians had always been in favor of the dynasty (‘dynastic’) but that it was an inappropriate moment for Transylvanian politicians to become Kossuthists. If there were any need to join a party, socialists, with their platform of universal suffrage, might be more appealing. In 1905, when this letter was written, the Romanian National Party (RNP) in Transylvania had ceased its boycott of Hungarian parliamentary institutions and was pushing from within the Parliament for universal suffrage within the Kingdom of Hungary. (Of note, the RNP had debated whether to formally endorse women’s suffrage at its January 1905 congress, finally deciding against the issue with some members expressing support for the cause.) The RNP was probably debating at the time the alliances it should forge within the Parliament. During 1905, workers, especially in the Austrian half of the Dual Monarchy, mobilized by a popular socialist movement, were demanding suffrage in mass demonstrations and through other forms of participation. Arion’s entreaty towards an alliance with the socialists functioned in this context. The Kosshutism mentioned in the letter as a less appealing alternative to the support of socialists refers to the ideological legacy of 1848 revolutionary Kossuth Lajos (1802-1894), a symbol of the more radical patriotism of the Hungarian Revolution and a hero of Hungarian centralizers. The brief mention of suffrage politics links with how a Member of Hungarian Parliament, Stefan Cicio-Pop, participated in 1913 in the International Woman Suffrage Alliance (IWSA) Congress in Budapest and later supported a bill for universal suffrage. However, this letter does not mention women’s suffrage explicitly, and is likely to be implicitly referring to male suffrage without property qualifications when discussing “universal suffrage.” On women’s suffrage and Transylvanian Romanian nationalism, see also Helena Densusianu, “Helena Densusianu to Emilia Dr. Rațiu, 10 March 1870” (Letter, Făgăraș, March 10, 1870), 844/1870, Fond 1246 Personal Fond Dr. Ioan Ratiu, ff. 1-2, Romania. Arhivele Nationale. Arhivele Nationale Istorice Centrale Bucharest; and Eleonora Lemény, “Indreptatire politica femeilor! [Legitimate Women’s Policy!],” Adevarul-Glasul Poporului, December 2, 1918. ¶ This document captures with unusual directness Transylvanian Romanian positioning vis-à-vis the Habsburg dynasty and within the Austro-Hungarian Empire (a stance taken since the 1848-1849 Hungarian Revolution). The letter exemplifies pragmatic politics and organizing, and places a young upper-class educated woman such as Arion in the middle of the “male sphere” of parliamentary political strategizing in both Transylvania and the Romanian Kingdom. For example, it is interesting to note that the presumed aversion towards socialist politics among the Transylvanian Romanian middle class and within the Romanian National Party could be conceived as surmountable, in the context of the struggle for universal suffrage. Finally, the topics and rhetorical features of this letter offer a counterweight to the maternalist, “women’s sphere,” and the highly affective style encountered in other politically active women’s public rhetoric. Compare this with Maria Baiulescu, “Cuvantul de deschidere rostit de doamna Maria B. Baiulescu, presedinta Uniunii Femeilor Romane din Brasov la I-ul Congres al Reuniunilor de Femei din Ungaria, tinut la Brasov in zilele de 3-5 Iunie 1913 [Opening Speech Given by Mrs. Maria B. Baiulescu, President of the Union of Romanian Women in Brasov to the Ist Congress of the Women’s Reunions held in Brasov between 3-5 June 1913]” (Speech, Brașov, June 1913), MS 1954, f. 36, “George Baritiu” County Library Special Collections, “George Baritiu” County Library Special Collections. The Arion letter contributes to a more complex image of the reasons and tactics of nationalist mobilization among women involved in the Transylvanian Romanian national cause and underscores the gap that existed between private discourse and public rhetoric among politicized women. KEYWORDS: Women and Institutions of Empire; Hungarian Parliament; Women and Practices/ Cultures of Empire; Imperial Identity; Women Interacting with Women, Social Movements, and Other Actors Beyond Empire; Women and Nation within Empire; Women and Struggle Between Nations in the Empire; Social Reform and Political Activism; Political Parties and Other Male Dominated Organizations; Socialism; Political and Human Rights; Nationality Rights; Human Rights, Suffrage; Habsburg Empire; Kossuth Lajos/ Louis Kossuth. Show more Show less

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Zoe Arion to Emilia Dr. Rațiu, Bucharest, October 1905

Zoe Arion to Emilia Dr. Rațiu, Bucharest, October 1905