Augusta Fickert

The correct spelling of this name is AUGUSTE FICKERT.

Auguste Fickert co-founded the Allgemeiner Österreichischer Frauenverein (General Austrian Women’s Association) in 1893 and edited its house organs, the Dokumente der Frauen (Documents of Women) and Neues Frauenleben (New Woman’s Life). She became director of the organization in 1897. On the left wing of the Austrian women’s movement, the Frauenverein allied with proletarian organizations in campaigns around education and legal protections for working-class and impoverished women. A teacher for most of her working life, Fickert publicly criticized the religious basis of school instruction, enduring vitriolic attacks by the clerical (and anti-Semitic) Christian Social Party. Her last major project was the Einküchenhaus (one-kitchen house), a housing cooperative for professional women.