DR ALETTA JACOBS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18941, 11 December 1929, Page 13

DR ALETTA JACOBS.

At Baarn, in Holland, recently there died Dr Aletta Jacobs, at the age of seventy-five, states an Australian paper. Dr Jacobs was president of the Netherlands Women Citizens’ Union, a foundation member of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance, and well known to suffragists throughout the world. At the recent Berlin Congress she was one of the most active members. Aletta Jacobs was the first girl to go to high school in Holland, and to secure this right it was necessary for a Minister of the Cabinet to give his consent. Later, she became the first woman physician in that country. She was one of the earliest leaders of the feminist movement in Holland, and for many' years was the president

of the Dutch Woman Suffrage Association, working in every possible way to secure the enfranchisement of women. In 1883 she made formal application to become an elector, basing her claim on the fact that the Constitution of 1848 did not explicitly exclude women from the right to vote. Her application was refused by .the different Courts, and in 1887 the word “masculine” was inserted against each of the articles referring to the right of vote! But, like Dame Millicent Fawcett, she lived to see the women’s victory. In 1919 women gained the vote in Holland. Women now sit in her Parliament and municipal councils, and hold many high offices; all schools have been opened to them, and women practise in all the professions. The whole of this is very largely due to Dr Aletta Jacobs’* initiative, energy and determination to win through.