Käthe Leichter Award
Käthe Leichter (1895-1942)
Käthe Leichter was one of the most important women in the political life of the first Republic. She was a proponent of the bourgeois youth movement and was one of the first women to study political science and national economics. Käthe Leichter was responsible for setting up the Women's Department in the Vienna Chamber of Labor.
She systematically collected data on working women and surveyed their private and professional circumstances in detail. Her studies and publications are among the most important women-related publications of the inter-war period.
In 1938, Käthe Leichter was detained in Ravensbrück concentration camp during the Nazi regime and murdered at the Bernburg Euthanasia Centre in 1942.
Today Käthe Leichter is considered one of the world’s first social scientists and one of the most important pioneers in the field of women's studies.
Information on the Käthe Leichter State Award
The Käthe Leichter Award is intended to keep alive the memory of the economist Käthe Leichter.
The Käthe Reichter State Award for Women's Studies, Gender Studies and Equality in the World of Work is awarded for outstanding achievements in the field of women's studies and gender studies in the social sciences, humanities and cultural studies, as well as for outstanding achievements in support of the women’s movement and the achievement of gender equality.
The Käthe Leichter State Award is endowed with 5.000 Euro and is conferred by the member of the government responsible for women’s affairs.
In addition to the Käthe-Leichter-State-Award, further Käthe-Leichter-Awards in the amount of 2.500 Euro euros each, are sponsored by
- the member of the government responsible for education and science,
- the member of the government responsible for labour,
- the member of the government responsible for economics,
- the Chamber of Labour Vienna,
- the Austrian National Bank.
The nomination as well as the selection of the award winners is carried out by an independent jury.
The jury is composed of persons from academia and research who are recognized for their expertise of women's and gender studies as well as leading figures from labour interest groups and other prize sponsors.