April 18, 1906 - Bertha von Suttner - a podcast by Stephen Hammond

Baroness Bertha von Suttner becomes first woman to win Nobel Peace prize.Baroness Bertha Felicie Sophie von Suttner was born into aristocracy and a military family as the Countess Kinsky on June 9, 1843 in Prague. In adulthood, the Baroness moved to Paris to work as Alfred Nobel’s secretary, then to Vienna to marry Baron Arthur Gundaccar von Suttner. To escape her disapproving in-laws, the couple moved again and lived a meagre life, teaching language and music, and writing. Bertha, who became a successful writer, gravitated toward the topic of peace. When she learned of the Arbitration and Peace Association in London, she wrote her second serious book The Machine Age, criticizing the world and the destructive nature of nationalism and armaments. In 1889, she wrote the compelling novel, Lay Down Your Arms, describing the effects of war. This made her a leader of the peace movement, about which she corresponded frequently with her former employer, Nobel. Only when Nobel died did she discover through his will that he had established a peace prize – a prize she herself would win on April 18, 1906, the first woman to do so. Throughout her life, von Suttner (with her husband until he died in 1902) spoke all over the world, organized and attended conferences and wrote – all toward the goal of promoting peace. Her death on June 21, 1914 spared her from witnessing the start of World War I just two months later.

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