Josefa Humpalová–Zeman
Josefa Veronika Humpalová–Zeman | |
|---|---|
Humpalová–Zeman in 1894 | |
| Born | Josefa Veronika Humpalová January 9, 1870 |
| Died | April 23, 1906 (aged 36) Prague, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary |
| Burial place | Olšany Cemetery, Prague |
| Alma mater | College for Women of the Western Reserve University of Chicago |
| Occupations | Czech-American journalist, newspaper founder, feminist and suffragist |
| Organization(s) | Unity of Czech Ladies National Council of Women of the United States Czech Committee for Preparation Works of Czech Women at the World's Columbian Exposition Slavic Journalists |
| Known for | Founding the newspapers Ženské Listy in America and Šťastný domov in Austria-Hungary |
| Spouse | Robert Zeman (m. 1887, div. 1888) |
Josefa Veronika Humpalová–Zeman (January 9, 1870 – April 23, 1906) was a Czech-American journalist, newspaper founder, feminist and suffragist.
Biography
Humpalová–Zeman was born on January 9, 1870 in Sušice, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary. When she was aged 2, she emigrated to the United States with her family.[1] She married Robert Zeman on June 30, 1887 in Chicago, Illinois.[1][2] They were divorced the following year.[2]
In 1889, Humpalová–Zeman enrolled at the College for Women of the Western Reserve (CWRU, later the Flora Stone Mather College) in Cleveland, Ohio.[2][3][4]
In the early 1890s, Humpalová–Zeman joined the Unity of Czech Ladies and was known as a spirited debater.[1] She was also a member of the National Council of Women of the United States.[5]
In 1892, Humpalová–Zeman was appointed as Secretary for the "Committee for Preparation Works of Czech Women" at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition.[6] As the Bohemian delegate to the exposition,[7] she gave an address on the topic of women as social leaders[8] and "took advantage of the exposition" to "promulgate... linguistic nationalism" and promote "new women’s initiatives."[9]
In 1893, Humpalová–Zeman enrolled at the University of Chicago.[10]
In 1894, Humpalová–Zeman founded the newspaper Ženské Listy (Woman's Gazette) in Chicago.[11] It was the first publication for Czech women in the United States,[12][13] as well as the first Bohemian newspaper anywhere in the world.[14] She served as editor and general manager of the newspaper.[14] She was also appointed Executive Secretary of the Slavic Journalists in 1897.[1]
Humpalová–Zeman resigned from Ženské Listy in 1901.[1] She moved to Prague, where she founded the newspaper Šťastný domov (Happy Home) in 1904.[2]
Humpalová–Zeman died on April 23, 1906, aged 36, in Prague, Austria-Hungary. She was buried in Olšany Cemetery.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f Litoff, Judy Barrett; McDonnell, Judith (1994). European Immigrant Women in the United States: A Biographical Dictionary. Taylor & Francis. pp. 146–147. ISBN 978-0-8240-5306-2.
- ^ a b c d "Josefa Humpal-Zeman Chronology". Czech & Slovak American Genealogy Society of Illinois. Retrieved October 17, 2025.
- ^ Rose, Martha Emily Parmelee (1915). The Western Reserve of Ohio and Some of Its Pioneers, Places and Women's Clubs. Press of Euclid Print. Company. p. 98.
- ^ Alumnae Register: A Catalogue of the Graduates and Former Students of Flora Stone Mather College of Western Reserve University. Flora Stone Mather College. 1931. p. 23.
- ^ Kirkland, Joseph; Kirkland, Caroline (1894). The Story of Chicago. Dibble publishing Company. p. 69.
- ^ Ondrušková, Andrea (June 26, 2012). "Medzi dvoma svetmi: časopis Ženské Listy a život českých žien v Amerike v rokoch 1894-1901". PhD thesis, Institute of Communication Studies and Journalism, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University (in Slovak): 57–58. Retrieved October 17, 2025.
- ^ Dalbello, Marija (2023), Dalbello, Marija; Wadsworth, Sarah (eds.), "Central European Collections: The Periphery Challenging the Center", Global Voices from the Women’s Library at the World’s Columbian Exposition: Feminisms, Transnationalism and the Archive, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 91–114, doi:10.1007/978-3-031-42490-8_6, ISBN 978-3-031-42490-8, retrieved October 17, 2025
- ^ Johnson, Rossiter (1898). A History of the World's Columbian Exposition Held in Chicago in 1893. D. Appleton. p. 64.
- ^ Gender and Modernity in Central Europe: The Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and Its Legacy. University of Ottawa Press. 2010.
- ^ Schultz, Rima Lunin; Hast, Adele (2001). Women Building Chicago 1790-1990: A Biographical Dictionary. Indiana University Press. pp. 419–420. ISBN 978-0-253-33852-5.
- ^ Reference Library of European America. Gale Research. 1998. p. 141. ISBN 978-0-7876-2966-3.
- ^ "Bohemian Women's Publishing". Czech & Slovak American Genealogy Society of Illinois. Retrieved October 17, 2025.
- ^ Rechcigl, Mila (2011). "Czech (Bohemian) Women in U.S. History: Independent Spirit and Their Nonconforming Role". Kosmas. 15 (1): 102–139.
- ^ a b "Bohemian Women's Publishing Company records, 1894-1900". Explore Chicago Collections, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Illinois at Chicago. Archived from the original on April 16, 2021. Retrieved October 17, 2025.