Fanny Blatny (1873–1949), born Fanni Feldmann-Fischer in Bohemia, dedicated her life to advancing social justice, particularly for women, within the framework of social democracy. Active in Czechoslovakia’s German-speaking community, Blatny was active in both national and international socialist movements, and focused on gender equality in the workplace and society.

Her political journey began in 1901 when she joined the Social Democratic Workers’ Party. By 1916, she was a leading force in the socialist women’s movement in Karlsbad (now Karlovy Vary). After the formation of Czechoslovakia, Blatny rose through the ranks of the German Social Democratic Party, becoming its key woman representative. Between 1920 and 1935, she served as a member of the Czechoslovak Chamber of Deputies, where she championed causes such as equal pay, legal rights for children born outside of marriage, and opposition to restrictive abortion laws. Her 1926 pragmatic proposal of the limited legalization of abortions, however, remained unsuccessful.

Fanny Blatny, 1920 (Source: Archiv © NADACE LANGHANS PRAHA)

Blatny’s influence extended far beyond her country’s borders. As a prominent organizer within the Labour and Socialist International (LSI), she worked to unite women from across Europe in the fight for equal rights. In the face of growing economic hardship during the Great Depression, she spoke out against policies that targeted married women in employment. At the Fourth International Women’s Conference in 1931, she criticized attempts to dismiss married women from their jobs to reduce unemployment, highlighting the complexity of women’s economic roles:

We are supposed to be ‘double earners’ when we earn something beside the earnings of the husband; but one does not consider whether... we have to take care of sick relatives or the maintenance and education of children.

Blatny’s activism and ethnicity made her a target of persecution following the Nazi annexation of the Sudetenland. As a Jewish socialist, she was in grave danger. Thanks to a network of international allies, including figures from the International Labour Organization and the British Labour Party, she narrowly escaped arrest. In 1939, she was smuggled out of Czechoslovakia to London, leaving behind her family and the country she had served for decades. She died in London in 1949.