Adrienne Veigele

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Adrienne Veigele
Veigele in 1895
Born
Adrienne Veigelé

c. 1862
Paris, France
Died1915 (aged 52–53)
Easthampstead, England
Citizenship
  • French
  • British[1]
OccupationsTeacher and activist
Known forWomen's rights and vegetarianism activism
MotherAlexandrine Veigele

Adrienne Veigele (born Adrienne Veigelé; c. 1862 – 1915) was a French teacher and activist for women's rights and vegetarianism. She was the daughter of campaigner Alexandrine Veigele. After settling in London, she taught French and music to support her and her mother's activism. Veigele contributed to the feminist periodical Shafts, held posts in the Women's Vegetarian Union, founded by her mother, and served on the Editorial and Executive Committees of the Vegetarian Federal Union. In 1896 she founded the Women's International Progressive Union to promote women's education and reform, and later established vegetarian organisations abroad, including the Société Belge pour l'Étude de la Réforme Alimentaire in Brussels (1897) and the Dublin Society for the Study of Food Reform (1899).

Early life

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Veigele was born in Paris around 1862 to John and Alexandrine Veigele.[2] She moved to London with her family at the age of 5.[3] Her mother adopted a vegetarian diet in 1888 and became active in campaigns for vegetarianism and women's rights.[4]

Career

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Teaching and writing

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Veigele taught French and music to support their reform activities.[5]: 248  From February 1894 she advertised tuition in the feminist magazine Shafts, and in, 1898 she contributed an article titled "Qualities admired by Men in Women and by Women in Men".[5]: 250 

Organisational work

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Women's Vegetarian Union

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The Women's Vegetarian Union (WVU) was founded in March 1895 in London by her mother. Veigele served as honorary superintendent of an agency depot connected with the organisation, and later as assistant secretary, then honorary secretary.[4][6][7] The WVU provided a forum for women engaged in food reform and moral education.[4]

Vegetarian Federal Union

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Viegele served as a member of the Vegetarian Federal Union's Editorial and Executive Committees. Other committee members included Henry B. Amos, Josiah Oldfield, R. E. O'Callaghan, and May Yates.[8]

Women's International Progressive Union

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In February 1896 Veigele founded the non-political and non-sectarian Women's International Progressive Union (WIPU) in London and served as its secretary. The organisation aimed to promote women's participation in educational and social initiatives through lectures and discussions, and held 21 meetings in its first year.[9] Her mother was also involved in its administration.[4]

Other societies

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Veigele attended the Congrès féministe international ("International Feminist Congress") in Brussels in 1897.[4] While there, she also established the Société Belge pour l'Étude de la Réforme Alimentaire ("Belgian Society for the Study of Food Reform"), bringing together supporters of vegetarianism in Belgium. The society soon began publishing a bi-monthly periodical, La Réforme Alimentaire, edited by M. A. Maerschalck and devoted to promoting vegetarian principles.[10]

In Ireland, in 1899, Veigele helped establish the Dublin Society for the Study of Food Reform, working with Mrs. E. King-Flewitt and Mrs. Sophia Gough, a fellow vegetarian and the wife of the proprietor of Gough's Temperance Hotel on Exchequer Street, Dublin.[5]: 203 

Personal life and death

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Veigele's later years were marked by ill health and financial hardship. Her mother died in 1913 after struggling with poverty and the effects of Adrienne's illness while attempting to establish a boarding house at Crowthorne.[4] Veigele died two years later, in the second quarter of 1915 in Easthampstead, aged about 53.[11]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ United Kingdom census (1901). "Adrianne Veigele". FamilySearch. Retrieved 4 October 2025.
  2. ^ United Kingdom census (1871). "Adrienne Vergeli". FamilySearch. Retrieved 4 October 2025.
  3. ^ United Kingdom census (1911). "Adrienne Veigel E". FamilySearch. Retrieved 4 October 2025.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Gregory, James Richard Thomas Elliott (2002). "Biographical Index of British Vegetarians and Food reformers of the Victorian Era". The Vegetarian Movement in Britain c.1840–1901: A Study of Its Development, Personnel and Wider Connections (PDF). Vol. 2. University of Southampton. p. 104. Retrieved 5 September 2025.
  5. ^ a b c Gregory, James Richard Thomas Elliott (2002). "Biographical Index of British Vegetarians and Food reformers of the Victorian Era". The Vegetarian Movement in Britain c.1840–1901: A Study of Its Development, Personnel and Wider Connections (PDF). Vol. 1. University of Southampton. Retrieved 5 September 2025.
  6. ^ "Women's Vegetarian Union". Food, Home and Garden. 1–3: 8. 1897 – via Google Books.
  7. ^ Young, Liam (2022), "Women's Vegetarian Union, The", in Scholl, Lesa; Morris, Emily (eds.), The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Victorian Women's Writing, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 1713–1715, doi:10.1007/978-3-030-78318-1_437, ISBN 978-3-030-78317-4, retrieved 5 September 2025
  8. ^ "Federal Union Executive". The Vegetarian. 23 March 1895. Retrieved 27 September 2025 – via International Vegetarian Union.
  9. ^ Edwards, Joseph (1895). "Directory of Reform Societies". The Labour Annual. 3: 123 – via HathiTrust.
  10. ^ Mallory, Lucy A., ed. (October–November 1897). "Mlle. Adrienne Veigele" (PDF). The World's Advance Thought and the Universal Republic. 11 (7). Portland, Oregon: 111.
  11. ^ "Deaths Jun 1915". FreeBMD. Retrieved 4 October 2025.