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TITLE: The Speech of Mrs Delfa Ivanić at the Congress of Slavic Women held in Prague This Year (2). DESCRIPTION: This speech by Mrs. Delfa Ivanić was given at the second congress of Czechoslovak women held in Prague (Praha, Prag) in 1908. The speech was published in two issues of Ženski svet in October and November 1908; this document is the second part of the speech. Delfa Ivanić (Podgorica 1881- Belgrade 1972) was a Serbian painter, humanitarian and activist for women's rights. She graduated from the Serbian High School for Girls in Belgrade in 1897 and began studies of chemistry at the University of Geneva (1897-1899) which she had to end due to the sudden death of her step-father. Together with the painter Nadežda Petrović, she initiated the establishment of a humanitarian women’s organization The Circle of Serbian Sisters (Kolo srpskih sestara) in 1903, which remained active for a long period. Her professional and public work includes the editing of The Circle of Serbian Sisters' bulletin Vardar (‘Vardar’) (1906-1913, 1920-1940) and the struggle for women’s suffrage and equal rights. Delfa Ivanić published over thirty titles, and published in journals such as Ženski pokret (‘Women's Movement,’ Belgrade, 1920-1938) and Domaćica (‘Housewife,’ Belgrade, 1879-1914, 1921-1941). The speech was published in Ženski svet. List dobrotvornih zadruga Srpkinja (Women’s World: Journal of the Charitable Cooperatives of Serbian Women). The journal was published between 1886 and 1914 in Novi Sad (Újvidék), the Vojvodina, by the Charitable Cooperative of Serbian Women from Novi Sad (Dobrotvorna zadruga Srpkinja Novosatkinja). The Vojvodina belonged to the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia which enjoyed a considerable degree of autonomy within the Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen, or Hungary, in the dual Monarchy (from 1867) of Austria-Hungary. Serbian was one of the dominant languages spoken in the Vojvodina. The editor of the journal was Arkadije Varađanin, a man who was an active proponent of women’s rights and who was a teacher and director of the Serbian High School for Girls established in Novi Sad in 1874. ¶ In her speech, Delfa Ivanić explains that she is in Prague on the invitation – most likely – of the Central Association of Czech Women (Ústřední spolek český žen) representing the Belgrade Women’s Society (Beogradsko žensko društvo) and The Circle of Serbian Sisters. Ivanić opens the speech by talking about the Serbian “tribe,” according to her, probably the only nation in Europe which is politically “split” to such an extent as it is the case with the Serbian people which lives under “such different political circumstances and influences” (as she explains further, in Austria-Hungary, in Ottoman Empire, Serbia and Montenegro). She explains that for this reason, when talking about Serbian women, one has to differentiate between the circumstances of Serbian women living in the different areas. At the same time, she mentions the “universal attributes of all Serbian women,” which are: kind heart, tameness, natural intelligence, cleverness and easy understanding. In Serbia, there are three types of women: women public workers, women housewives and peasant women. She points to positive and negative sides of life in Serbia. On the one hand, she positively evaluates schooling in Serbia, mentioning that also “our University is full of women.” She describes the struggles of women in Serbia as “very silent, without much effort,” saying that Serbian women easily get all they ask for. For this, she praises the Serbian state, and says Serbian women should be thankful to their state. On the other hand, she mentions the unjust Serbian law which is worse for women as compared to Austria-Hungary. Her examples are inheritance law, property law, and the absence of legal regulations that would protect children born out of wedlock and cheated girls. She also mentions the problem of unequal pay between women and men doing the same work. As she explains, even in the factories women are paid less. Ivanić additionally mentions the difference of the way of life among women from different classes, but she asserts that this difference is much bigger “in the North and West of Europe” as compared to Serbia. Her explanation for this is that Serbia is rich in “necessary groceries” but not in “luxury,” that people are used to “humble life” and “hard work.” Then, she describes the family life of Serbian women. Concerning the morality, she describes Serbian women as “virtuous and honest in a patriarchal way,” and as there is no aristocracy in Serbia, there are no “idle, lazy and pompous women,” nor women like those about whom Ibsen wrote, “who want to live only for themselves, as individuals.” ¶ Ivanić then talks about different women’s associations, including the Belgrade Women’s Society (Beogradsko žensko društvo) which has 25 branch organizations in Serbia, organizes schools for girls from poor families where they can obtain a certificate for teaching in public or private schools. The Belgrade Women’s Society is also involved with the peasant women’s embroidery and handicraft. The Circle of Serbian Sisters has 18 boards in different places in Serbia, not counting Belgrade, the capital. She mentions that Serbian women from urban areas have made more progress than peasant women, who practically have to work all the time. Ivanić speaks about the communal life of peasants in cooperatives (zadruga), where 15-60 people (even more) live and work together, but mentions also that the life of the newly married women is extremely difficult in the cooperatives. Yet she evaluates cooperatives positively and says that rural women should be educated to keep the house cleaner and in a frugal way. The task of Serbian women is to educate Serbian peasant women. Additionally, Ivanić talks about: Serbian women from Montenegro, “another Serbian free country;” Serbian women from Bosnia, Herzegovina and Dalmatia; Serbian women “from this side of the river Sava” (i.e. in Austria-Hungary); finally, the Serbian women from Macedonia and “old” Serbia (still part of Ottoman Empire at the time), with a short description of the history of the Serbian people and the “500 years of slavery under the Ottomans.” The life of Serbs, and especially Serbian women in the Ottoman Empire is evaluated as extremely difficult. After her description of how Serbian women live in two empires and two “free countries,” she explains that the circumstances she has described can explain why Serbian women don’t have the possibility, time, and real need, to create an “extremely feminist organization,” and why they are not demanding for “privileges in the wider possible sense, such is the right to vote.” ¶ It should be added that the Belgrade Women’s Society (Beogradsko žensko društvo) was the first Serbian women’s association in Serbia, established in Belgrade in 1875 under the patronage of Princess, from 1882 Queen, of Serbia Natalija Obrenović. The association was active until 1941, its official journal was Domaćica (‘Housewife’) and the initiator of the organization was Katarina Milovuk, the principal of the High School for Girls in Belgrade. The Circle of Serbian Sisters (Kolo srpskih sestara) was a charitable women’s association established in Belgrade in 1903 on the initiative of Delfa Ivanić, Nadežda Petrović (painter, 1873-1915), Katarina Milovuk (1844-1913), Draga Ljočić (a medical doctor, 1855-1926), and others. The first president of the organization was Savka Subotić. For an overview and cross-reference to Savka Subotić (1834-1918), see “Savka Subotićka. 1834-1904. [Savka Subotić: 1834-1904],” Ženski svet, January 10, 1904. The organization was active helping the Serbian soldiers during the Balkan wars and the Great War/World War I. On the Second Congress, see “Drugi kongres československih ženskinja [The Second Congress of Czechoslovak Women],” Ženski svet, January 9, 1908. KEYWORDS: Women and Institutions of Empire; Second Congress of Czechoslovak women; Women Interacting with Women, Social Movements, and Other Actors Beyond Empire; Women Challenging Empire; Women and Statehood; Women and Nation within Empire; Relations Between Women of Different Nationalities; Women and Nation-Building; Women and Relationship Between Nations in the Empire; Women and Struggle Between Nations in the Empire; Women and National Languages; National Identity; Empire and Feminism; Women and Statehood; Social Reform and Political Activism; Multi-Ethnic Participation in Social Movements; Political and Human Rights; Nationality Rights; Social and Cultural Rights; Suffrage; Equal Rights for Women; Women and Education; Access to Higher Education; Access to Primary Education/Literacy; Education as a Source of Women’s Emancipation; Work and Class Identity; Handicraft; Embroidery; Habsburg Empire; Hungary; Austria; Novi Sad; Vojvodina; Serbia; Prague; Bohemia

Field of Interest

Women and Social Movements

Author

Delfa Ivanić, 1881-1972

Collection

Women and Social Movements, Modern Empires Since 1820

Content Type

Periodical article

Duration

0 sec

Format

Text

Page Count

9

Publication Year

1908

Source Title

Ženski svet, Vol. 23, no. 11, January 11, 1908, pp. 246-254

Subject

Women and Social Movements, History, Women and Social Reform, Women and Work, Women and Education, Mujer y Reforma Social, Mulher e Reforma Social, Mujer y Trabajo, Mulher e Trabalho, Mujer y Educación, Mulher e Educação, Austria-Hungary (Historical Place), Imperio Austrohúngaro, Império Austro-Húngaro, Hungría, Praha, Prag, Charitable Cooperatives of Serbian Women, Second Congress of Czechoslovak Women, Belgrade Women’s Society, Central Association of Czech Women, Circle of Serbian Sisters, Draga Ljočić, 1855-1926, Savka Subotić, 1834-1914, Katarina Milovuk, 1844-1913, Nadežda Petrović, fl. 1903, Arkadije Varađanin, fl. 1874, Delfa Ivanić, 1881-1972, Austro-Hungarian Empire (Historical Place), Serbia (Country), Novi Sad, Vojvodina, Austria, Hungary, Prague, Stredoceský, Women and Immigration, Women and Education, Women and Development, Work and Class Identity, Women, Colonization, Empire, and Post Coloniality, Political and Human Rights, Social Reform and Political Activism, Nationality Rights, Indigenous Languages, Education as a Source of Women’s Emancipation, Access to Higher Education, Household Crafts, Labor Standards, Empire and Feminism, Access to Primary Education/Literacy, Social and Cultural Rights, Multi-Ethnic Participation in Social Movements, Czechs, Serbians

Topic

Nationality Rights, Indigenous Languages, Education as a Source of Women’s Emancipation, Access to Higher Education, Household Crafts, Labor Standards, Empire and Feminism, Access to Primary Education/Literacy, Social and Cultural Rights, Multi-Ethnic Participation in Social Movements

Keywords and Translated Subjects

Mujer y Reforma Social, Mulher e Reforma Social, Mujer y Trabajo, Mulher e Trabalho, Mujer y Educación, Mulher e Educação, Austria-Hungary (Historical Place), Imperio Austrohúngaro, Império Austro-Húngaro, Hungría, Praha, Prag