Bertha von Suttner
Bertha Felicitas Sophie Freifrau von Suttner (Baroness Bertha von Suttner, pronounced [ˈbɛɐ̯ta fɔn ˈzʊtnɐ]; née Countess Kinsky; 9 June 1843 – 21 June 1914) was an Austrian-Bohemian pacifist and novelist. In 1905, she became the second female Nobel laureate (after Marie Curie in 1903), the first woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and the first Austrian laureate.
Early life
Suttner was born on 9 June 1843 at Kinský Palace in the Obecní dvůr district of Prague.[4] Her parents were the Austrian Lieutenant general (German: Feldmarschall-Leutnant) Franz de Paula Josef Graf Kinsky von Wchinitz und Tettau, recently deceased at the age of 75, and his wife Sophie Wilhelmine von Körner, who was fifty years his junior.[5][6] Her father was a member of the Czech House of Kinsky via descent from Vilém Kinský. Suttner's mother came from a family that belonged to untitled nobility of significantly lower status, being the daughter of Joseph von Körner, a cavalry officer, and a distant relative of the poet Theodor Körner.[7] For the rest of her life, Suttner faced exclusion from the Austrian high aristocracy due to her mixed descent; for instance, only those with an unblemished aristocratic pedigree back to their great-great-grandparents were eligible to be presented at court. She was additionally disadvantaged because her father, as a third son, had no great estates or other financial resources to be inherited. Suttner was baptised at the Church of Our Lady of the Snows, not a traditional choice for the aristocracy.
Soon after her birth, Suttner's mother moved to live in Brno with Bertha's guardian Landgrave Friedrich Michael zu Fürstenberg-Weitra (1793–1866). Her older brother Arthur was sent to a military school, at the age of six, and subsequently had little contact with the family. In 1855 Suttner's aunt Loffe and cousin Elvira joined the household.[8] Elvira, whose father was a private tutor, was of a similar age to Suttner and interested in intellectual pursuits, introducing Suttner to literature and philosophy.[9] Beyond her reading, Suttner gained proficiency in French, Italian and English as an adolescent, under the supervision of a succession of private tutors; she also became an accomplished amateur pianist and singer.[10]
Suttner's mother and aunt considered themselves to be clairvoyant and thus went to gamble at Wiesbaden in the summer of 1856, hoping to return with a fortune. Their losses were so heavy that they were forced to move to Vienna. During this trip Suttner received a proposal from Prince Philipp zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg which was declined due to her young age.[11] The family returned to Wiesbaden in 1859; the second trip was similarly unsuccessful, and they had to relocate to a small property in Klosterneuburg. Shortly after this, Suttner wrote her first published work, the novella Erdenträume im Monde, which appeared in Die Deutsche Frau. Continuing poor financial circumstances led Suttner to a brief engagement to the wealthy Gustav Heine von Geldern, thirty-one years her senior, whom she came to find unattractive and rejected; her memoirs record her disgusted response to the older man's attempt to kiss her.
In 1864, the family spent the summer at Bad Homburg which was also a fashionable gambling destination among the aristocracy of the era. Suttner befriended the Georgian aristocrat Ekaterine Dadiani, Princess of Mingrelia, and met Tsar Alexander II.[12] Seeking a career as an opera singer as an alternative to marrying into money, Suttner undertook an intensive course of lessons, working on her voice for over four hours a day. Despite tuition from the eminent Gilbert Duprez in Paris in 1867, and from Pauline Viardot in Baden-Baden in 1868, she never secured a professional engagement. She suffered from stage fright and was unable to project well in performance. In the summer of 1872 she was engaged to Prince Adolf zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein, who died at sea that October, while travelling to America to escape his debts
Soon after her birth, Suttner's mother moved to live in Brno with Bertha's guardian Landgrave Friedrich Michael zu Fürstenberg-Weitra (1793–1866). Her older brother Arthur was sent to a military school, at the age of six, and subsequently had little contact with the family. In 1855 Suttner's aunt Loffe and cousin Elvira joined the household.[8] Elvira, whose father was a private tutor, was of a similar age to Suttner and interested in intellectual pursuits, introducing Suttner to literature and philosophy.[9] Beyond her reading, Suttner gained proficiency in French, Italian and English as an adolescent, under the supervision of a succession of private tutors; she also became an accomplished amateur pianist and singer.[10]
Suttner's mother and aunt considered themselves to be clairvoyant and thus went to gamble at Wiesbaden in the summer of 1856, hoping to return with a fortune. Their losses were so heavy that they were forced to move to Vienna. During this trip Suttner received a proposal from Prince Philipp zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg which was declined due to her young age.[11] The family returned to Wiesbaden in 1859; the second trip was similarly unsuccessful, and they had to relocate to a small property in Klosterneuburg. Shortly after this, Suttner wrote her first published work, the novella Erdenträume im Monde, which appeared in Die Deutsche Frau. Continuing poor financial circumstances led Suttner to a brief engagement to the wealthy Gustav Heine von Geldern, thirty-one years her senior, whom she came to find unattractive and rejected; her memoirs record her disgusted response to the older man's attempt to kiss her.
In 1864, the family spent the summer at Bad Homburg which was also a fashionable gambling destination among the aristocracy of the era. Suttner befriended the Georgian aristocrat Ekaterine Dadiani, Princess of Mingrelia, and met Tsar Alexander II.[12] Seeking a career as an opera singer as an alternative to marrying into money, Suttner undertook an intensive course of lessons, working on her voice for over four hours a day. Despite tuition from the eminent Gilbert Duprez in Paris in 1867, and from Pauline Viardot in Baden-Baden in 1868, she never secured a professional engagement. She suffered from stage fright and was unable to project well in performance. In the summer of 1872 she was engaged to Prince Adolf zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein, who died at sea that October, while travelling to America to escape his debts
Peace activism
After their return to Austria, Suttner continued her journalism and concentrated on peace and war issues, corresponding with the French philosopher Ernest Renan and influenced by the International Arbitration and Peace Association founded by Hodgson Pratt in 1880.
In 1889 Suttner became a leading figure in the peace movement with the publication of her pacifist novel, Die Waffen nieder! (Lay Down Your Arms!), which made her one of the leading figures of the Austrian peace movement. The book was published in 37 editions and translated into 12 languages. She witnessed the foundation of the Inter-Parliamentary Union and called for the establishment of the Austrian Gesellschaft der Friedensfreunde pacifist organisation in an 1891 Neue Freie Presse editorial. Suttner became chairwoman and also founded the German Peace Society the next year. She became known internationally as the editor of the international pacifist journal Die Waffen nieder!, named after her book, from 1892 to 1899. In 1897 she presented Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria with a list of signatures urging the establishment of an International Court of Justice and took part in the First Hague Convention in 1899 with the help of Theodor Herzl, who paid for her trip as a correspondent of the Zionist newspaper, Die Welt.[33]
Upon her husband's death in 1902, Suttner had to sell Harmannsdorf Castle and moved back to Vienna. In 1904 she addressed the International Congress of Women in Berlin and for seven months travelled around the United States, attending a universal peace congress in Boston and meeting President Theodore Roosevelt.
Though her personal contact with Alfred Nobel had been brief, she corresponded with him until his death in 1896, and it is believed that she was a major influence on his decision to include a peace prize among those prizes provided in his will, which she was awarded in the fifth term on 10 December 1905. The presentation took place on 18 April 1906 in Kristiania.
Upon her husband's death in 1902, Suttner had to sell Harmannsdorf Castle and moved back to Vienna. In 1904 she addressed the International Congress of Women in Berlin and for seven months travelled around the United States, attending a universal peace congress in Boston and meeting President Theodore Roosevelt.
Though her personal contact with Alfred Nobel had been brief, she corresponded with him until his death in 1896, and it is believed that she was a major influence on his decision to include a peace prize among those prizes provided in his will, which she was awarded in the fifth term on 10 December 1905. The presentation took place on 18 April 1906 in Kristiania.
In 1907 Suttner attended the Second Hague Peace Conference, which however mainly pertained to the law of war. Around this time, she also crossed paths with Anna Bernhardine Eckstein, another German champion of world peace, who influenced the agenda of the Second Hague Peace Conference. In the run-up to World War I, Suttner continued to campaign against international armament. In 1911 she became a member of the advisory council of the Carnegie Peace Foundation.[34] In the last months of her life, while suffering from cancer, she helped organise the next Peace Conference, intended to take place in September 1914. However, the conference never took place, as she died of cancer on 21 June 1914, and seven days later the heir to her nation's throne, Franz Ferdinand was killed, triggering World War I.
Suttner's pacifism was influenced by the writings of Immanuel Kant, Henry Thomas Buckle, Herbert Spencer, Charles Darwin and Leo Tolstoy (Tolstoy praised Die Waffen nieder!) [35] conceiving peace as a natural state impaired by the human aberrances of war and militarism. As a result, she argued that a right to peace could be demanded under international law and was necessary in the context of an evolutionary Darwinist conception of history. Suttner was a respected journalist, with one historian describing her as "a most perceptive and adept political commentator
Suttner's pacifism was influenced by the writings of Immanuel Kant, Henry Thomas Buckle, Herbert Spencer, Charles Darwin and Leo Tolstoy (Tolstoy praised Die Waffen nieder!) [35] conceiving peace as a natural state impaired by the human aberrances of war and militarism. As a result, she argued that a right to peace could be demanded under international law and was necessary in the context of an evolutionary Darwinist conception of history. Suttner was a respected journalist, with one historian describing her as "a most perceptive and adept political commentator
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