Alice Sophie Schwarzer (born 3 December 1942) is a German journalist and prominent feminist. She is founder and publisher of the German feminist journal EMMA. Beginning in France, she became a forerunner of feminist positions against anti-abortion laws, for economic self-sufficiency for women, against pornography, prostitution, female genital mutilation, and for a position on women in Islam. She authored many books, including biographies of Romy Schneider, Marion Dönhoff, and herself.

Biography and positions

Schwarzer was born in Wuppertal, the daughter of a young single mother, and was raised by her grandparents in Wuppertal; During World War II, they were evacuated to Bavaria, only returning to the Ruhr district in 1950. She called her project Frauen gegen den § 218 ("Women against Section 218", which is the section of the German Penal Code that makes abortion illegal). In autumn 1971, Schwarzer released her first book of the same title. The illegality of abortion was upheld by the German Constitutional Court abortion decision, 1975.

From 1992 to 1993, Schwarzer was host of the TV show Zeil um Zehn on German TV channel Hessischer Rundfunk.

thumb|Schwarzer in 2010

When EMMA changed to bimonthly release in 1993, she continued to write an increasing number of books, among them one about Petra Kelly and Gert Bastian, called Eine tödliche Liebe (Deadly Love), and biographies of Romy Schneider and Marion Dönhoff. In total, she has released 19 books as a writer, and 21 as publisher, as of 2014.

She published an autobiography, Lebenslauf (Curriculum vitae), in 2011.

She has written in favor of the continued legality of circumcision of male children.

In June 2018, Schwarzer married her long-time life and business partner Bettina Flitner.

Her most recent book, Transsexualität. Was ist eine Frau? Was ist ein Mann? Eine Streitschrift (2022), she claims that transgender people, which she calls "transgenderism", are a trend and advocates for retaining protections exclusively for cisgender women. For this, she has been criticised as transphobic.

Furthermore, she claims that transgender people are homosexual people that do not want to be homosexual and promotes the rapid-onset gender dysphoria theory, which has been widely criticized for being scientifically unsupported.

She has also been called a TERF for these reasons.

In February 2023, she and Sahra Wagenknecht wrote the Manifest für Frieden (), a petition against the delivery of weapons to Ukraine.

Tax fraud

In the 1980s, Schwarzer set up an account at the Zürich-based private bank Lienhardt & Partner to keep her assets hidden from German tax authorities. During the following years, Schwarzer transferred earnings gained from book sales and public presentations to this Swiss bank account, thus avoiding taxation in Germany. Including interest and compound interest, her illegal assets piled up to an amount of 4 million euros.

As a reaction, Schwarzer made a statement on her private webpage on the matter. Under the heading "In eigener Sache" ("on one's own account"), Schwarzer admitted to being a tax fraudster.

In May 2014, German tax authorities and criminal prosecutors raided a number of properties owned by Schwarzer. At the same time, judge-issued search warrants on several of Schwarzer's banking accounts were executed.

Awards

  • 1991: of Wuppertal for her life achievements
  • 1992: of the Westdeutsche Akademie für Kommunikation
  • 1996: Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany am Bande (Cross of Merit on Ribbon)
  • 2018:

Alice Schwarzer Foundation

The Alice Schwarzer Foundation awards the Heroine Award to recognize women "who fight courageously and with dedication to improve the situation of women, whether through their professional work, social engagement or personal commitment".

Recent recipients of the award include:

  • 2023: Iranian lawyer and women's activist Nasrin Sotoudeh
  • 2024: Virginia Wangare Greiner, Kenyan-born social entrepreneur and advocate for African girls, women and families in Germany, and Cornelia Strunz, a German medical doctor and head of Dunkelziffer, an organization that campaigns against the sexual abuse of children and supports victims.

Publications

  • Frauen gegen den § 218. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt 1971.
  • Frauenarbeit – Frauenbefreiung. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt 1973.
  • Der kleine Unterschied und seine großen Folgen. Frauen über sich; Beginn einer Befreiung. Protokolle und Essays. S. Fischer, Frankfurt 1975, several editions
  • So fing es an – 10 Jahre neue Frauenbewegung. Emma Frauenverlag, 1981.
  • Mit Leidenschaft. Texte von 1968–1982. Rowohlt Verlag, Hamburg 1982.
  • Simone de Beauvoir heute – Gespräche aus 10 Jahren. Interviews und Essays. Rowohlt Verlag, Hamburg 1982.
  • Warum gerade sie? Weibliche Rebellen. Luchterhand Verlag, Frankfurt 1989
  • Von Liebe + Haß. S. Fischer, Frankfurt 1992.
  • Eine tödliche Liebe – Petra Kelly + Gert Bastian. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 1994, ISBN 3-462-02288-1.
  • Marion Dönhoff – Ein widerständiges Leben. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 1996, ISBN 3-462-02531-7.
  • So sehe ich das. Texte von 1992–1996. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 1997.
  • Romy Schneider – Mythos und Leben. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 1998, ISBN 3-462-02740-9.
  • Der große Unterschied. Gegen die Spaltung von Menschen in Männer und Frauen. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2002, ISBN 3-462-02934-7.
  • Alice im Männerland. Eine Zwischenbilanz. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2002, ISBN 3-462-03143-0.
  • Alice Schwarzer porträtiert Vorbilder und Idole. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2003, ISBN 3-462-03341-7.
  • Frauen mit Visionen, with photographer Bettina Flitner, Knesebeck, Munich 2004
  • Liebe Alice, liebe Barbara. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2005.
  • Die Antwort. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2007, ISBN 978-3-462-03773-9.
  • Simone de Beauvoir. Ein Lesebuch mit Bildern. Rowohlt, Reinbek 2007
  • Simone de Beauvoir. Weggefährtinnen im Gespräch. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2007
  • Journalistin aus Passion. Picus, Vienna 2010
  • Lebenslauf. (autobiography). Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2011, ISBN 978-3-462-04350-1.
  • Reisen in Burma. with photographer Bettina Flitner, DuMont Verlag, Köln 2012, ISBN 978-3-8321-9424-6.
  • Meine algerische Familie. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2018, ISBN 978-3-462-05120-9.
  • Lebenswerk. Zweiter Teil der Autobiografie. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2020.

In English

References