[4] In a biographical piece that her daughter wrote about her husband, Friedrich von May is identified as a man who took little account of his wife.

[a][3][4] In 1872 she published an essay entitled "Die Frauenfrage in der Schweiz zur Bundesrevision am 12.

In Switzerland there are no covert relationships, no advantages according to place, birth, family or person."

[4] She knew very well that her demands would only receive a positive response from men if they were backed by massive and sustained pressure from supporters of women's rights.

And that was not possible as long as poor educational opportunities meant that women were not in a position to stand up for their legally based rights.

The individual city-based women's associations should be grouped together under a federal-level (national) umbrella organisation which would have the political clout to influence federal legislation.

The demand that women should simply enjoy enhanced autonomy did not conflict directly with the "dualistic gender images" which were mainstream in Switzerland at the time.