Marie Juchacz

Marie Juchacz (; née Marie Gohlke; born Landsberg an der Warthe, 15 March 1879; died Düsseldorf, 28 January 1956) was a German social reformer. She joined the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in 1908, more than ten years before women acquired the right to vote, and pursued a career that included politics, becoming, in 1919, the first female Reichstag member to address a German parliament. Life and career Early years Marie was the daughter of a carpenter called Theodor Gohlke and his wife Henriette. Her childhood was marked by rural poverty, and she was obliged to leave school when aged 14. After finishing at the local school in Landsberg an der Warthe, Juchacz, whose beliefs were Protestant, began work in 1893, first as a maid, and then, briefly, in a factory that made curtains and fishing nets. Her father suffered from a lung infection and since he had no health insurance, after she left school Marie's wage packet was important for keeping the family afloat. From 1896 to 1898 she worked as a nurse in the local psychiatric institution. Looking back on the long hours of poorly paid shift work at the institution she recalled that she had soon become used to "sleeping while sitting on a hard rigid chairs ("..im Sitzen auf harten, steifen Stuhlen zu schlafen...").