Marianne Hainisch

Marianne Hainisch, born Marianne Perger (25 March 1839 – 5 May 1936) was the founder and leader of the Austrian women's movement. She was also the mother of Michael Hainisch, the first President of Austria (1920–1928).

Life Marianne Perger was born in 1839 in Baden near Vienna in Austria. Her mother employed tutors to help her teach Marianne and her siblings. Her father Josef Perger owned factories in Hirtenberg.

In 1857 Marianne married the industrialist Michael Hainisch (owner of a spinning factory in Aue) with whom she had two children (Michael, 1858, and Maria, 1860). In 1919 she was elected Deputy President of the International Council of Women, which the Federation had affiliated to in 1904, a position she held until 1924.

In autumn 1918 Marianne Hainisch joined the Civil-Democratic Party, and eleven years later was co-founder of the Austrian Women's Party. Hainisch is regarded as the initiator of Mother's Day in Austria, which has been celebrated since 1924.

She died on 5 May 1936.

In 1967 her home town of Baden erected a statue in her honour. In 1989 Austria issued a commemorative stamp, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of her birth. In 2002 Vienna named a street (Marianne-Hainisch-Gasse) in her honour.

Works On the Education of Women, 1870 The Mothers, 1913.