Adelheid Popp

Adelheid Popp (née Dworschak; 11 February 1869 – 7 March 1939) was an Austrian feminist and socialist who worked as a journalist and politician.

Early life

Adelheid Dworschak, was born 11 February 1869, into a poor working-class family in Inzersdorf, Vienna, Austria (now part of Liesing). Out of 15 children, only five survived in the family, and Dworschak was the youngest of the fifteen. Her mother, Anna, was a traditional Catholic. Her father, Adalbert, was a weaver and an abusive alcoholic. Dworschak grew up in a violent environment, and at six years old her father died of cancer, leaving the family poorer than before. She received three years of formal education but was often absent due to familial illnesses. Her mother, who was illiterate, could not write Dworschak letters of absence, leading to her imprisonment for several hours. In many of these positions Dworschak was exploited or sexually harassed.

In the mid-1880s Dworschak became interested in politics. A friend of her brother introduced her to the working class social movement and social democratic newspapers and literature. She read about how poverty was universal and a product of an unjust society. The living conditions of working-class families were particularly relevant to her life, as Dworschak had grown up impoverished and been exploited by employers., In 1889 she attended her first public meeting for the Social Democratic Workers Party, the Working Women's Educational Association, which was founded by women active in the social democratic movement in 1890. She would give her first speech at a meeting for the association, inspired by a speaker describing women's working conditions. Dworschak stood up and shared her own experiences and demanded the need for women's education. After her impromptu speech, the audience, mainly men, applauded and requested written copies of the speech. She became the editor-in-chief of the social women's newspaper, Die Arbeiterinnenzeitung, in October 1892. In 1893, when Dworschak appeared at the International Socialist Workers Congress, Dworschak was considered a "Wunderkind" and was admired by prestigious socialists Victor Adler, August Bebel, and Friedrich Engels.

In 1898, Dworschak was appointed to the Frauenreichskomitee (National Women's Committee). In 1909, she anonymously published Die Jugendgeschichte einer Arbeiterin (English: The Autobiography of a Working Woman). This book, which had an introduction by August Bebel, and the Adelheid Popp Park.

Adelheid Popp is a featured figure on Judy Chicago's installation piece The Dinner Party, being represented as one of the 999 names on the Heritage Floor, associated with Susan B. Anthony's place setting.

Works The Autobiography of a Working Woman, (published anonymously), Foreword by August Bebel, published by Ernst Reinhardt, Munich 1909, new edition: Dietz 1983, Memories; From my Childhood and Girlhood Years. By Adelheid Popp, Stuttgart: Dietz 1915