Queer Places:
Havilland Hall, Le Vauquiedor, St. Andrew, Guernsey GY6 8TP
Princess Gabrielle Jeanne Anne Marie Radziwill (March 14, 1877 –
January 9, 1968) was a Lithuanian
nurse, pacifist and women's rights activist.[1] The
diversity of organisations included in the tenth congress of the International
Alliance of Women for Suffrage and Equal Citizenship (IAWSEC) in 1926, ranged
from the “Mexican Women’s Organisation” and the “China Suffrage Society,” to
the “World’s Young Women’s Christian Association” represented by
Edith Picton-Turbervill;
the “London Society for Women’s Service” represented by
Pippa Strachey; the “Secretariat
of the League of Nations” represented by
Gabrielle Radziwill. Such
widespread inclusion of groups in the congress enabled a strong liaison
between feminists internationally, broadening the base of women’s
participation across class, culture and ethnicity. Internationally, the spirit
of feminist co-operation fostered the League of Nations work undertaken in
areas challenging male sexual privilege. The “English Summary of Report on
League of Nations” to the IAWSEC Congress, stated that since 1923, relations
between the Alliance, the League and the International Labour Office had
become “much closer and more cordial”.
Anna Gabriela Radziwiłł h. Trąby was born in Berlin, Germany, on March 14,
1877, the daughter of Wilhelm Adam Karol książe Radziwiłł h. Trąby, na Nieświeżu
and Katarzyna Radziwiłł.
Gabrielle Radziwill was one of first women to join the League of
Nations where she was active from 1920 to 1934.[2]
Before joining the Secretariat of the League of Nations in November 1920,
Radziwill had spent two years working for the Russian Red Cross on the
Russian-Persian front where she was in charge of hospitals. Active in women's
organizations, in the League she was a strong supporter of women's interests,
calling for cooperation with the women's movement.[3][4] In
connection with relationships between the League and women's societies, she
stressed: "I shall always be ready to do what I can to help and further the
aims of the women's organizations — even when I do not see eye to eye with
them!"[5]
In the League of Nations, she was initially employed as a Senior Assistant in
the Information Section but was promoted to Member of Section in 1927. In
1931, she was transferred to the Social Questions and Opium Traffic Section
and, in 1934, to the Intellectual Cooperation and International Bureaux
Section where she worked until she left in December 1938.[2]
Speaking at the International Council of Women congress in 1925, Radziwill
announced that the "League needs the work of women, and we women need the
League of Nations' help, because the work that we are doing can only bear
fruit if it is really sanctioned by our Governments and we women must help
this sanction to be given."[6]
She died on January 9, 1968, at Havilland Hall, Guernsey, United Kingdom.
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