Malkijel je bila jedna od onih žena koje su razumele da borba za prava nije samo ideologija već i pitanje preživljavanja Malkiel was one of those women who understood that the struggle for rights isn’t just an ideology, but an existential issue
Tereza Malkijel THERESA MALKIEL
Rođena je 1874. godine u gradu Bar, na teri- toriji tadašnjeg Ruskog carstva, današnjoj Ukra- jini. Poreklom iz jevrejske porodice, kao mlada je emigrirala u Sjedinjene Američke Države, gde se suočila sa realnošću siromaštva i teškog rada. Ra- dila je u tekstilnoj industriji, jednoj od najtežih grana u kojoj su žene činile veliki deo radne sna- ge. Upravo u fabrikama odeće, gde su radni uslovi bili surovi, razvila se njena politička svest. Udala se za aktivistu Leona Malkijela, sa ko- jim je delila politička uverenja, i zajedno su se uključili u socijalistički pokret u SAD. Tereza je postala jedna od vodećih žena Socijalističke par- tije Amerike i posebno važna figura u organizova- nju žena radnica. Njeno ime se danas ređe pomi- nje, ali istorijski je potvrđeno da je bila ključna u organizaciji prvog Nacionalnog dana žena u SAD 1909. godine. Taj događaj, održan u Njujorku, bio je preteča kasnije međunarodne inicijative. Malkijel je pisala i romane i političke teksto- ve koji su se bavili životom radnica i eksploataci- jom. Bila je jedna od onih žena koje su razumele da borba za prava nije samo ideologija već pitanje preživljavanja. Preminula je 1954. godine, osta- vivši trag u istoriji ženskog pokreta u Americi, ia- ko je njeno ime ostalo u senci poznatijih evrop- skih revolucionarki.
Born in 1874 in the city of Bar on the territory of the then Russian Empire (now Ukraine), she had Jewish origins and im- migrated to the U.S. as a young woman, where she faced the re- ality of poverty and hard work. She worked in the textile indus- try, which was one of the most difficult branches of industry in which women accounted for a large part of the workforce. It was in clothing factories and under harsh working conditions that she developed her political awareness. She married activist Leon Malkiel, with whom she shared political beliefs, and they together became involved in the so- cialist movement in the U.S. Theresa became one of the leading women of the Socialist Party of America and a particularly im- portant figure in the organising of female workers. She is rarely mentioned today, but it has been confirmed historically that she was instrumental in organising America’s first National Wom- en’s Day event in 1909, which was held in New York and served as a forerunner of the subsequent international initiative. Malkiel also wrote novels and political essays dealing with the lives of working women and exploitation. She understood that the struggle for rights isn’t just an ideology, but an exis- tential issue. She died in 1954, leaving her mark on the his- tory of the women’s movement in America, though her name has remained in the shadows of better-known European lady revolutionaries.
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