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Suttner, Bertha von (neé Kinsky, 1843 - 1914)
Copyright: IMAGNO/Austrian Archives
Bertha von Suttner was born on 9 June 1843 in Prague. Her father was field marshal Franz Joseph Graf Kinsky, her mother came from the family of the freedom poet Theodor Körner. Bertha received an excellent education, was fluent in several languages and well traveled. In 1873 she took up a post as governess of the four daughters of Baron von Suttner Vienna. When she fell in love with the Baron’s son, who was 7 years younger than her, Suttner had to leave.
In 1876 Suttner traveled to Paris where she worked as secretary of the industrialist Alfred Nobel before returning to Vienna to secretly marry Arthur. As a result Arthur was disinherited and the newly weds moved to the Caucasus where they worked as journalists for nine years. Arthur wrote travel books and covered the increasing ethnic conflicts in Russia and Central Europe in 1877, while Bertha successfully published short stories and essays for Austrian newspapers under the pseudonym B. Oulet.
In 1885 the couple made their peace with the Suttner family and moved to Schloss Harmannsdorf (Lower Austria). Bertha von Suttner’s anti-war novel "Lay Down Your Arms” was at first rejected by several publishers. When the work was finally printed in 1889 it became an instant success and was soon translated into different languages. The book has often been compared in popularity and influence with Harriet Beecher Stowe's “Uncle Tom's Cabin”.
In the years to come Bertha participated in many peace congresses, founded the Austrian (1891) and German Society for Peace (1892), acted as vice president of the International Peace Offices and published the peace journal "Die Waffen nieder!" (1892). When her husband Arthur died in 1902, Bertha moved back to Vienna. In 1905 Bertha von Suttner became the first female recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. Her most famous book, “Die Waffen nieder!”, was adapted for screen in 1913. Bertha von Suttner died on 21 June 1914 in Vienna, only a few weeks before the outbreak of WW I. The Austrian 2-Euro coins carries the portrait of the pacifist Bertha von Suttner.
Information on Bertha von Suttner
In 1876 Suttner traveled to Paris where she worked as secretary of the industrialist Alfred Nobel before returning to Vienna to secretly marry Arthur. As a result Arthur was disinherited and the newly weds moved to the Caucasus where they worked as journalists for nine years. Arthur wrote travel books and covered the increasing ethnic conflicts in Russia and Central Europe in 1877, while Bertha successfully published short stories and essays for Austrian newspapers under the pseudonym B. Oulet.
In 1885 the couple made their peace with the Suttner family and moved to Schloss Harmannsdorf (Lower Austria). Bertha von Suttner’s anti-war novel "Lay Down Your Arms” was at first rejected by several publishers. When the work was finally printed in 1889 it became an instant success and was soon translated into different languages. The book has often been compared in popularity and influence with Harriet Beecher Stowe's “Uncle Tom's Cabin”.
In the years to come Bertha participated in many peace congresses, founded the Austrian (1891) and German Society for Peace (1892), acted as vice president of the International Peace Offices and published the peace journal "Die Waffen nieder!" (1892). When her husband Arthur died in 1902, Bertha moved back to Vienna. In 1905 Bertha von Suttner became the first female recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. Her most famous book, “Die Waffen nieder!”, was adapted for screen in 1913. Bertha von Suttner died on 21 June 1914 in Vienna, only a few weeks before the outbreak of WW I. The Austrian 2-Euro coins carries the portrait of the pacifist Bertha von Suttner.
Information on Bertha von Suttner
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