‘Letter from F.F. Plamínková, chairwoman of the National Council of Women to Chancellor Hitler. 14 September 1938’. Gema Intxausti (EU)

Original print. Basque version

[Spanish version available]

An educator by profession, Františka Plamínková was a prominent suffragette and senator in Czechoslovakia from 1925 to 1938 who dedicated her life to the feminist movement. Plamínková helped to secure universal suffrage for women and the repeal of the law requiring female teachers to be celibate. She was the first Czech woman to appear before the League of Nations, the forerunner of today’s United Nations (UN). During the Second World War, she wrote a letter to Hitler accusing him of insulting Czechoslovak President Edvard Beneš. In 1942, Plamínková was arrested and taken to Pankrác prison, where she was executed without trial along with other prominent figures. There is a plaque in her honour in the courtyard of the Prague Senate.