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 second 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 1868 the family moved to Vienna. During the American Civil War (1861–65), the business was in crisis, as cotton wool could no longer be sourced from the United States. In the late 1860s, a transformative experience for Marianne was the difficulty a friend of hers had in obtaining work to support her family after her husband had fallen ill. Despite her friend's best efforts (she spoke several languages and had musical talents) she was unable to find work. For the 30-year-old Marianne, the importance of education in enabling middle class women to access work became clear. In 1870 she wrote an article (On the Education of Women), which no newspaper would publish. At a meeting on 25 March 1870 she presented her article, culminating in a call for the City of Vienna to institute parallel school classes for girls. This bombshell was widely reported in the newspapers, and resulted in the First Austrian Savings Bank donating 40,000 florins for the foundation of a girls' school.