Nina Spiller (née Barboza; 1878-1967) was a French-born British women's rights activist, humanist,[1] and secretary, who worked with the League of Nations and the International Alliance of Women. With her husband, Gustav Spiller, she organised both the First International Moral Education Congress and the First Universal Races Congress.
Personal life edit
Or Nina Spiller, French by birth, English by marriage, who joined the secretariat in 1920 as the secretary of Paul Mantoux and remained as secretary of the political section until 1934. Her position, the League under-secretary admitted, was not challenging enough for someone of her intelligence, but given her nationality (English, given the marriage laws) and the virtual freeze on promotions, she never moved to a better post.[2]
Nina Spiller made a similar tour of the near east, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Mesopotamia and Ethiopia to interest the women of these countries in the work of the Alliance and to get them to join in its activities. One of the results of this propaganda mission was that among the additional affiliates to the Alliance admitted at the next Congress, that at Amsterdam in 1949, were Ethiopia, Iraq and Iran.[3]
Nina Spiller for many years a prominent and hard-working member of the IAW. She was treasurer from 1939 to 1949, edited the French section of the IWN for many years. She travelled widely in the interests of the women’s movement and became an honorary vice-president of IAW. She died in December 1967 at the age of 90. Dame Margery said of her “a dauntless spirit in a small frame”.[3]
W e announce with deep regret the death of two remarkable women who played an active part in the Ethical and Humanist movement for over half a century. Mrs Fairhall, widow of a treasurer of the South Place Ethical Society, was a familiar figure at conferences and social gatherings both in this country and abroad; and so, too, was Mrs Spiller, French by origin and the widow of a prominent member of the Ethical Union. Mrs Fairhall was ninety and Mrs Spiller an octogenarian. Mrs Spiller was an ardent feminist; and, like Mrs Fairhall, she combined a lucid mind with rare charm.[1]
References edit
- ^ a b "News". The Humanist. February 1968. p. 57.
- ^ Pedersen, Susan (2021), Egginton, Heidi; Thomas, Zoë (eds.), "Women at work in the League of Nations Secretariat", Precarious Professionals, Gender, Identities and Social Change in Modern Britain, University of London Press, pp. 181–204, ISBN 978-1-912702-59-6, retrieved 2023-02-15
- ^ a b Whittick, Arnold (1979). Woman into citizen. Internet Archive. Santa Barbara, Calif. : ABC-Clio. ISBN 978-0-87436-269-5.