This report, written by Spanish woman Elena Güell in Amsterdam in July 1908, was originally published in the newspaper La Publicidad of Barcelona, and was reproduced in freethinking weekly Las Dominicales del libre pensamiento on 14th August 1908. The original in Spanish is available to view digitally through the Biblioteca Nacional de España website. I have translated this particular piece because it sheds light on the realities of the contemporaneous transnational relations between women as they strove for a common cause. It is interesting to see how the linguistic, cultural and political factors inherent in their differing national identities interacted, sometimes unproductively, with the common gender identity they are striving to strengthen at this Congress, and they lead to very unequal levels of participation across countries. The translation is as literal as possible to try to reproduce in English the writer’s own imperfect information and personal impressions as an isolated Spaniard, hence any foreign loanwords and proper names are kept as they were found in the text, while I have reproduced the text in full so that we can see the author’s own priorities on what she feels is important to report, and what might be of interest to her Spanish readers.
The Amsterdam Congress – Women’s Suffrage.
On arriving at this city I came across a Congress devoted to the suffrage of women. It got my attention and I got involved in it, purely and simply, to find out what was going on. I will give you my impressions, which although light, I presume will interest your readers for their novelty.
The first impression was extraordinary due to its unexpectedness. In Spain we have a very different idea to that which I got from the look and the dealings with the congresswomen. We think of women involved in politics as a sort of extravagant virago, dressed strangely, and to a certain point, unbearable. Everything to the contrary to that which I have observed here. Those who take part in this solemn affair, because it is solemn, are the most comme il faut that could be imagined. They wear dresses and accessories which are luxurious, tasteful, elegant and original. I should declare, almost humiliatedly, that on the first meeting I found myself depaysée in the midst of so many beauties.
Said congress was held in the Concert-gebow, that is, the Concert Hall. On the first day I heard various speeches in English, and in the evening I attended a garden party, given by the president of the Dutch Suffragists’ Association, Mrs. Jacobs.
On the second day, after the Congress, we took a trip on a barge along the Amstel, very interesting for the landscape and for the ladies’ company.
Before going any further, I should say that almost everyone here knows something of French, but they speak it a bit confusedly. They are more familiar with English and German.
The hotel in which I was staying was also shared by the main English congresswomen. I had dealings with the president of the Congress, Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt. She is North American, of great distinction, a haughty and proud figure, like those of her race, and still young, despite her white baudeaux, and pretty.
I also spoke to Käthe Schirmadrer, an enchanting woman full of feminine attractiveness, always with the sweetest smile on her lips and light in her eyes, who interpreted the most interesting things into French, English and German. She gave her speeches in all three languages, spoken perfectly and with a kind and sweet grace. She is Austrian and one of the main figures. I think that I have met her before, in a tempestuous feminist congress at which I was present, by coincidence, in Paris. How much things have changed since then! Those two ladies do not dress with originality, but after the French or English fashion, the latter sumptuously and elegantly.
There is also another interesting lady, the American preacher Anna H. Shaw, whose mere presence creates a ripple of enthusiasm amongst all those present. A corpulent matron, with a checked smock over her dress. How she talks! Everything is says is very inspiring and animating. It doesn’t seem, with her strong spirit, that she is the age she is.
Another of the most notable suffragists is Catalina van Rennes, whose songs are heard in all of the schools of the city. It was she who conducted the orchestra in the Concert Jibon on the opening day. On that occasion she wore a very artistic wide tunic of black cloth.
I also met the secretary, Martina Kramers and the aforementioned president of the Asociación for Woman Suffrage of the Netherlands, Dr. Alesta H. Jacobs, the delegate of the Internacional Council of Women, Miss Crystal Macmillan, the editor of the suffragist newspaper La Evolución, Mme. Schork-Haver and many other women both Dutch and from other countries.
I have also had dealings with mister Dora Montefiori, the Englishwoman who didn’t want to pay her tax, and whose furniture was seized while she herself was imprisoned. She appealed to me for an interview to find out about the situation in Spain.
I didn’t want to draw attention to myself, because, aside from the language barrier, I am partly lacking in the huge level of culture that these ladies enjoy, because in Spain they bore us to death at school, and interest in the greater motivator for instruction and education.
The most inspiring congresswoman is Anita Augspurg, vicepresident of the Congress. She is from Hamburg, but she speaks English. She is a lawyer, but as the laws of her country do not allow her to practise, she runs a large agricultural enterprise. She is a president of the National Association of German Suffragists.
Very radical, so that she can’t always be followed, I was told she was the president of the Regional Suffragist Association of Silesia. She is around 50 years old, but she could be believed to be younger, due to her fine little intelligent-boy head. What spiritual superiority she has, which radiates from her as she speaks, from her gestures, from her body, from her attitude, from her precise, firm, sculpted words. She goes around dressed in the most original and strange way in the world. One would take her for a man, and she was imprisoned, because they believed that she was one, disguised as a woman. She wears her hair short and a simple purple skirt and loose purple blouse; she looks like a cardinal, and her face is fine, intelligent and gaunt, of lively colours. The impression of maleness (in the best sense of the word) that she produced in me, she produced in the whole Congress. Her mere appearance produced a storm of applause. I am still enchanted by how well these women speak – the firmness, the precision, the brevity, the energy. This way of speaking reveals a whole set of rare qualities. In my judgement there are few of our great orators who have them. These women also have the superiority which comes from being consecrated to a cause which they esteem as just and good. We Spanish women are full of timidness. The surroundings don’t help us. Here only the sash of the congresswomen is a passport for respect and the greatest consideration.
A banquet was held which was very simple and without wine. Mineral water. It was splendid for the dresses and the vast quantity of flowers. It was made livelier with continuous national anthems, listened to and sung while standing. I have already learned the Dutch national anthem by heart. The beauty and the sumptuousness of the dresses were dazzling. The suffragists decorated their hair with flowers. I put them on almost all of the women at my table. I inundated them with white irises and they all said that now they knew that I was Spanish, because of how well I knew how to do it.
The party ended with an interesting dance of the country, formed by the congresswomen, dressed with the characteristic outfits of the diverse Dutch provinces. They only played La Marseillaise once, and at the end, and it didn’t arouse the shouts of enthusiasm that it normally does in other countries. Where it did arouse a response was in the hearts of the men present, who were those who responded with the cheer. The ladies at my table turned kindly towards me, because they pretty much identify all of the Latin countries together, as opposed to the others, the others being almost uniquely represented here in this Congress.
A gathering was also held in the Maison Couturier, some halls which are hired for such circumstances. What dresses! Empire and princess all of them. They were dazzling. Light colours and unusual shades. A lot in gold, orange, yellow and Havana brown. The predominant style, that of the shirt, without corset, with belts under the chest, or without belts; some cleavage or very simple virginal dresses, or very artistic. Many dress like all women do, but without the corset and sumptuously, like the English women, with lace and jewels, all with beautiful hats of varied class and style.
On the 21st there was an excursion, on a steamboat, to Rotterdam. Before this we visited the city of Dordrecht, passing under the famous bridge, and then walking along the streets of both cities. We crossed the waters between the numerous islands of Zeeland.
A telegram announcing the definitive annexation of Finland to Russia filled the congresswomen with contained emotion, and put a profound tone into their speeches. The female Russian representatives were quick to say that they too participated in the general sorrow.
I will end with some notes that I should have made before. In the Congress there were also some men inscribed, although significantly fewer than women. There were also some amongst the public and, in addition, various anti-feminists.
It may be of interest to point out that there were some lady speakers who were paid, and others who, without receiving a stipend, work admirably.
The body of women present were principally English, German and Dutch. There were also Finnish and Hungarian women. The Latin representation was extremely scant: only one Frenchwoman, an Italian woman, and a Belgian woman. There was no Spanish nor Portuguese woman. The Italian woman, in her rapport, had a rather disdainful phrase for Spain, borne of the desire that her country would not be confused with ours. When I met her, on pointing this out to her, she seemed to me to be a bit embarrassed.
The Frenchwoman was somewhat annoyed, because her language hadn’t been given a bigger role. She truly saw it like that, which was neither fair nor practical. The dominating spirit of England has been seen in this. They should also have given a place to the Dutch language so that the women of the country could have taken part in the Congress. The real people of Holland, just because nothing else was spoken apart from English and a bit of German, have ended up being excluded.