Sara Rabinowitsch

Born in Berezin, Russian Empire (today in Belarus), Sara Rabinowitsch (Rabinovich) received her doctorate in social sciences in Germany in 1902. Her dissertation focused on Jewish working-class organizations in the Russian Empire; published in 1903, it is excerpted here. In 1903, she traveled to Galicia in the Austro-Hungarian Empire under the sponsorship of anti-sex-trafficking organizations. Together with Bertha Pappenheim, Rabinowitsch documented the grueling social conditions of impoverished and working-class Galician Jews and wrote a report that continues to serve as an essential source on the topic. After participating in unauthorized political activities in Odessa in the lead-up to the 1905 revolution, Rabinowitsch was imprisoned for a short time. Following her release, she continued contributing in Russian, German, and Yiddish to political journals related to the Jewish working class, especially on issues pertaining to the status of women. She committed suicide while imprisoned during World War I.