Mothers of Europe

“Who were the Mothers of Europe?” Members of a consortium from the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Spain, Poland and Hungary sought answers to this question in a new edited volume and with the posters of eighteen identified outstanding women. The contributions, legacies, and biographies of these heroines were considered particularly important to the history of their own country as well as the whole of Europe. During turbulent years in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, their personal courage against authoritarian rule and for a united Europe and democratisation, including their fights to demolish patriarchal social structures and to change cultural norms, gave important examples to European citizens. Many “Mothers of Europe” carried the same burden that affected half of the continent’s population.

The Hungarian Europe Society contributed to the joint publication with the portrayals of three charismatic Hungarian female leaders: Anna Kéthly, Ottila Solt and Dorka Gryllus.

This volume intends to celebrate and acknowledge the heartening role of often unfairly forgotten or undervalued role of women in our common European history.

“Mothers of Europe” project has received funding from the European Union program “Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values” (CERV program, grant no. 101143916). In Poland, with the substantive support of the Women’s History Museum.

Views and opinions expressed are however those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

Project is implemented by a consortium of NGOs from Hungary (Magyarorszagi Europa Tarsasag), Germany (Alliance4Europe), Greece (Inter Alia), Spain (Asociacion Consortium Local-Global Coglobal), the Czech Republic (Knihovna Vaclava Havla), and Poland (The Bronisław Geremek Foundation and The Polish Robert Schuman Foundation).