Margarethe Faas-Hardegger

Margarethe Hardegger was a Swiss socialist feminist and trade union activist. A leading figure in the women's labour movement in Switzerland, she became the first women's secretary of the Swiss Trade Union Federation (SGB) and provided assistance to hundreds of working women throughout the 1900s. She faced tensions with the SGB leadership over her radical politics, particularly due to her advocacy of access to birth control. By 1909, she had left the union and established the Socialist League together with Gustav Landauer, although she later broke away from the organisation due to Landauer's criticism of her feminist views. In 1915, she was arrested and put on trial for assisting in illegal abortions. The prosecution attempted to indict her over an alleged profit motive for the abortions, but she was able to convince the court that she was motivated by solidarity and received the minimum sentence for abortion assistance. After her release, she established a commune and provided aid to refugees from the dictatorships of Europe. She remained active in the Swiss anarchist movement, as well as women's rights and anti-war movements, until the end of her life.