Autobiographie und Frauenfrage. Tagebücher Briefwechsel und politische Schriften von Mathilde Hanzel-Hübner

"Auto/Biographie und Frauenfrage. Tagebücher, Briefwechsel und politische Schriften von Mathilde Hanzel- Hübner (1884-1970)" reconstructs the private and political biography of the schoolteacher Mathilde Hanzel-Hübner (1884-1970). The auto/biographical documents are used as an example to analyze experiences, self-images and social/political contexts of an Austrian Feminist. Mathilde Hanzel-Hübner was a life-long activist of the women`s movement, who became a headmistress later in her professional career. She contributed to the fight for women`s higher education (as well as education in general), and was also involved in the peace movement. The "Sammlung Frauennachlässe" at Vienna University holds the unpublished works as well as documents concering the life of Mathilde Hanzel-Hübner. Questions on the possibilities of the representation of women`s agency within historical processes guided the work on the biographical edition. The resulting collection of sources opens perspectives on the history of the radical women`s movement; it also discusses central gender conflicts of the 20th century. The example of a woman who can neither be conceptualized as a leader or pioneer nor simply as a nameless representative of the movement is used to reconstruct different forms of communication and various political strategies: networks of women`s friendship and the love relations of a young schoolteacher before World War One. Mathilde Hanzel-Hübners ambivalent reaction to National Socialism, and her activities within the peace movement in the 1930s and 1950s are also documented. The most complex part of the collection will be published as a CD-ROM. It will offer diverse and various routes and readings of the documents on Mathilde Hanzel-Hübners youth as well as comments by the authors. This too will allow for the problematisation of linear biographical representation. "Auto/Biographie und Frauenfrage. Tagebücher, Briefwechsel und politische Schriften von Mathilde Hanzel- Hübner (1884-1970)" can be seen as a contribution to the history of the women`s movement in Austria. It also offers basic insights in the history of every day life, the history of education, and reflects on questions of biographical writing and the representation of feminist agency.