Aletta Jacobs The first

Always at the forefront

Aletta Jacobs (1854-1929) from Groningen was 68 when she cast her vote for the first time. Twenty-five years previously, she had founded the Vereeniging voor Vrouwenkiesrecht (VVK: the Association for Women’s Right to Vote). The photograph shows Jacobs (pictured with a bag) and allies from the VVK at the Binnenhof in The Hague. Jacobs’ colourful career made her possibly the most iconic feminist in the Netherlands. She was the first Dutch woman to be admitted to a university, the University of Groningen, where she graduated as the first female physician. Whilst holding that position, she fought for years for women’s rights: she held free surgery hours and provided women with contraceptives. -AH