Ida Somazzi

Ida Somazzi (17 December 1882 – 31 July 1963), for whom the Ida Somazzi Prize is named, was a Swiss educator and women's rights activist.

Life Ida Somazzi was born in Bern, the daughter of Catharina Gamma and Domenico Somazzi, a federal official from Porza. She trained as a primary school teacher and worked as a private tutor in Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina, from 1901 to 1903.

After qualifying as a secondary school teacher in Bern, she studied history and literature part-time at the University of Bern while teaching. In 1919, she earned her doctorate with the dissertation Geschichte der obrigkeitlichen Lehrgotten im Alten Bern (History of Authoritative Teaching in Old Bern), graduating with summa cum laude.

Somazzi dedicated her life to youth and adult education and gender equality. From 1919, she advocated for equal pay for equal work. In 1921, she was elected to the executive committee and board of the Swiss League of Nations Association. She was a founding member of the Working Group on Women and Democracy, formed in 1934 to combat fascism and Nazism.

In her personal life, Somazzi loved traveling to many countries, mountain hiking, and had a particular fondness for the Arctic regions of the United States.

Her estate is managed by the Gosteli Foundation.

Honors In her memory, the Working Group on Women and Democracy established the Somazzi Foundation in 1964, which annually awards the Ida Somazzi Prize, endowed by Maria Felchlin.

A street in Bern is named after Ida Somazzi.

Works

Geschichte der obrigkeitlichen Lehrgotten im alten Bern. Dissertation. Central Board of the Swiss Women Teachers' Association, Zürich, 1925. Um die Gleichberechtigung der Frau. Vaterländischer Verlag, Murten, 1948.

Selected articles and lectures

Warum Mädchen lieber Knaben wären. Schweizerisches Frauenblatt, Aarau, 1924. Jugend und Frauenstimmrecht. 1929. Wie erziehen wir junge Mädchen zur Arbeitsfreude. Schweizerischer Frauenkalender, 1933. Der schweizerische Staatsgedanke im Sturm der Zeit. Schweizerische Lehrerinnen-Zeitung, 1934. Was jede Schweizerfrau von der Entwicklung unserer Demokratie wissen sollte. Jahrbuch der Schweizerfrau, 1935. Die Vereinten Nationen und die Schweiz. Zentralblatt, 1946. Das Ringen um die Menschenrechte. Bund, 1947. Eine Amerika-Reise. Zentralblatt, 1948. Schweizerschule und Völkerverständigung. Schweizerische Lehrerzeitung, 1950. Das Ziel des Verbandes der Berufs- und Geschäftsfrauen in internationaler Sicht. 1953. Die politische Gleichberechtigung der Frau als weltpolitische Aufgabe. Eidgenössischer Nationalkalender, 1954.