Elizabeth Maria Molteno
Elizabeth Maria Molteno | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | 25 August 1927 Trevone, United Kingdom | (aged 74)
Occupation(s) | Suffragist, civil rights activist |
Elizabeth Maria Molteno (24 September 1852 – 25 August 1927), was an early
Early life
Elizabeth was born into an influential Cape family of
Fiercely intelligent, with a strong personality and an extraordinary memory, she developed views and habits which were unconventional for a girl in the
Educationalist
Choosing one of the few careers that were open to women in the 19th century, she became a teacher, and then the principal of the Collegiate School for girls in
Political activism
She was openly against the
She moved back to Cape Town in 1899 and became a founding member of the South Africa Conciliation Committee. Here she co-organised a series of mass meetings, attended by thousands, to protest the war and the ethnic divisions it was causing.[6] Miss Molteno had become close friends with Emily Hobhouse and Olive Schreiner and worked with them on humanitarian and anti-war causes both during and after the Boer War. With them, she passionately campaigned for the Boer women and children interned in the British concentration camps and the burning of the Boer farmlands.[7][8] In Port Elizabeth she also made the acquaintance of Alice Greene (aunt of the writer Graham Greene), who was her employee as the vice-principal of the Collegiate School and was also involved in anti-war activism. The two women had very similar views and thereafter maintained a lifelong friendship.[citation needed]
After the war, Miss Molteno opposed the radical new political developments in South Africa and left for England. There she met
She returned to South Africa in 1912, and became heavily involved in the causes of non-racialism. She was an extremely talented public speaker and this, together with her confidence and social standing, meant that she was greatly in demand to address public meetings on these causes. Throughout her life she was also a writer for a range of British and South African publications. Emily Hobhouse later wrote of her: "Your gift of seeing into the heart of things is so great, and you have control of such exquisite language for expressing moral and spiritual aspects". In addition, her writings drew considerable attention due to their radical (and often anti-imperialistic) language.
She remained in close contact with the
she urged Indians to identify with Africa. The Gandhis came to Cape Town in 1914 and Miss Molteno worked to facilitate their meetings with the most powerful political figures in South Africa. She also facilitated their introduction to Emily Hobhouse and the Prime Minister himself, General Botha, who had long ignored Gandhi's requests for an interview but thereafter maintained cordial communications. Gandhi was later to write about Miss Molteno's role as "peacemaker", enabling him to make contact with some of the most powerful figures in the country.[11][12][13]In the following years, she joined a range of campaigns in support of political and land rights for Black South Africans, working with prominent Black leaders such as
A particularly important cause for her was the abuse of prisoners at the hands of the South African police force. While Gandhi himself was in prison, she worked with beaten or abused prisoners and testified at inquests. She lobbied against the neglect that Mrs Gandhi also suffered whilst in prison and, in a particularly severe case, visited the imprisoned and badly beaten "satyagrahi" Soorzai, who had been fatally assaulted for supposedly leading a strike. The man died from his injuries, and Miss Molteno became deeply involved in the (ultimately unsuccessful) legal proceedings concerning his treatment.[17]
Elizabeth Molteno was a determined advocate of women's rights, and also became a convert to the movement for women's suffrage. In South Africa she worked with female passive resisters of all races and backgrounds. She was also a regular speaker at the movement's meetings, and expressed the hope that in a future multi-racial South Africa, women would be allowed to play a prominent part.[18][19]
When the
She died in 1927 in southern England, and has been since been referred to as possibly “…one of the most influential women in South Africa during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.” [3] and as “One of the most remarkable South African women of her generation.” [20] Nevertheless, her values and causes were so unusually progressive for the era in which she lived, that it was to be decades before they became widely accepted (especially in South Africa), and her role in propagating them was largely forgotten.[3]
See also
- Molteno (disambiguation)
- Sir John Charles Molteno
- Olive Schreiner
- Emily Hobhouse
- South Africa Conciliation Committee
References
- ^ Trewhela, Paul. "A century of voter struggles told beautifully through people's promise and despair". The M&G Online. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 25 January 2012.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ a b c d "Elizabeth Maria Molteno: Profile at Feminists South Africa.". Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 25 January 2012.
- ^ "New light on Gandhi's decisive South African Confrontation | Martin Plaut - Academia.edu". Archived from the original on 12 August 2014. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
- ^ University of Cape Town Manuscripts and Archives Department. BC330: Molteno Murray Papers: Journals of Betty Molteno.
- ]
- ^ "South African History – Biographies".
- ^ "Women and Education in Nineteenth-Century South Africa".
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - ISBN 978-1-4314-2375-0. p.120.
- ^ "South African History -Biographies".
- ^ Corder, C., Plaut, M. (2014) Gandhi's Decisive South African 1913 Campaign: A Personal Perspective from the Letters of Betty Molteno. South African Historical Journal. 66(1): 22-54.
- ^ "South African History Online: Some Remarkable Women who helped Gandhi in South Africa". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
- ^ "Articles : On and By Gandhi". Mkgandhi.org. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
- ^ "Who's Who in the Family – thumbnail sketches | Molteno Family History". Moltenofamily.net. 12 August 2012. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
- ^ H. Hughes: The First President: A Life of John L. Dube, Founding President of the ANC. Jacana Media, 2011. p.153.
- ^ "Olive Schreiner Letters Online". Oliveschreiner.org. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
- ^ Reddy, E. S. "The first martyrs of Satyagraha" (PDF). Visions of a Free South Africa. pp. 20–6.
- ^ "Europeans who helped Gandhi". Archived from the original on 21 February 1999. Retrieved 25 May 2010.
- ^ "Women and Empire, 1750–1939: Primary Sources on Gender and Anglo-Imperialism".
- ^ ISBN 1-874950-45-8.
Further reading
- Marthinus van Bart: Songs of the Veld. Cape Town: Cederberg Publishers, 2008. ISBN 978-0-620-39432-1
- Phillida Brooke Simons: Apples of the sun : being an account of the lives, vision and achievements of the Molteno brothers. Vlaeberg: Fernwood Press, 1999. ISBN 1-874950-45-8
- Susan K Martin: Women and Empire, Primary Sources on Gender and Anglo-Imperialism. Routledge, 2009. ISBN 978-0-415-31092-5