Native name Rosette Susanna Manus | Died 1942, Bernburg, Germany | |
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Born 20 August 1881 ( 1881-08-20 ) Amsterdam, Netherlands Known for Women's suffrage, Women's rights, Pacifism | ||
Rosette Susanna "Rosa" Manus ( [roːˈsɛtə syˈsɑnaː ˈroːsaː ˈmaːnʏs]; 20 August 1881 – 1942) was a Dutch pacifist and female suffragist.
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Early years
Rosa Manus was born the second of seven children to affluent Jewish parents, Henry Philip Manus, a tobacco merchant, and Soete Vita Israël, a homemaker, in Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
Women's suffrage and pacifism work
Manus became involved with the international women's suffrage movement in 1908 at the Congress of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance (IWSA). At the 1908 Congress she met Dutch suffragist Aletta Jacobs and American suffragist Carrie Chapman Catt, who would become lifelong colleagues and friends. Catt and Manus in particular developed a close relationship.
Following the 1908 Congress, Manus became secretary of the Dutch Association for Women's Suffrage. In 1913, Manus served as organizer, together with Mia Boissevain, of the exhibition “De Vrouw 1813–1913,” on the lives of Dutch women. In 1915, Manus played a large role in organizing the International Congress of Women in The Hague. Following this, she was appointed secretary of the International Committee of Women for Permanent Peace, later known as the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF).
Manus accompanied Carrie Chapman Catt, then President of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance, on a world tour in 1922-1923.
In 1935, together with Johanna Naber and Willemijn Posthumus-van der Goot she established the International Archives for the Women’s Movement (IAV), later known as the International Information Centre and Archives for the Women’s Movement and currently known as Atria Institute on gender equality and women's history.
Death
Manus was deported by the Nazis in 1940 and transferred to Ravensbrück concentration camp in October 1941. She was likely gassed at Bernburg in 1942, but there is conflicting information around her date of death.