Born: 9 June 1843, Czechia
Died: 21 June 1914
Country most active: Austria
Also known as: Baroness Bertha Sophie Felicita von Suttner, Countess Kinsky von Chinic und Tettau
From Famous Women: An Outline of Feminine Achievement Through the Ages With Life Stories of Five Hundred Noted Women. Written by Joseph Adelman, published 1926 by Ellis M Lonow Company:
Bertha von Suttner, an Austrian novelist, especially known for her efforts to promote peace. In 1891 she founded the Austrian Society of Peace Lovers, and as its president took a prominent part in various European peace congresses.
In 1905 she received the Nobel peace prize of £5,000. She wrote a number of novels, but her most important work is Die Waffen neider! (Lay Down Your Arms!), which has been translated into many languages.
Her Memoiren, full of interesting autobiographical matter, were published in 1908.
The following is excerpted from “400 Outstanding Women of the World and the Costumology of Their Time” by Minna Moscherosch Schmidt, published in 1933.
Bertha von Suttner, born at Prague, came from an aristocratic family, her father being Field Marshal, Count Kinsky. This nobility in her blood forbad her marrying the man she loved, Freiherr von Suttner. In 1876, casting aside tradition, she married the man of her choice, and for nine years thereafter the couple were forced to live abroad with no income. From the beginning Bertha von Suttner showed her love of human service. Her first book, Down With Weapons, exploiting what was nearest and dearest to her heart, caused the same reactions in Europe as did Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin in America.
Bertha Suttner experienced the trying times that prevailed during the Russian Turkish War. They increased her aversion of war. She wrote for the Press and was the mainstay in the reorganization of the Pacifists into the “Friedenwarte.” To the nickname created for her by her antagonists, “Die Friedensbertha,” and to their warning that she cease playing with fire, she was quite unmindful, continued actuated by her love of humanity to
promulgate her pacifist theories. To arbitrate international misunderstandings was her goal, and after the death of her husband, in 1902, her entire life was devoted to this work. She was a charming lecturer and travelled through America, bringing her message to thousands in speech and writing. She died June 21, 1914. Among her works are Memoirs, Machine Age, Humanity’s Highroads , most of which were published after her death in Zurich in 1917.