'The Great Aunt of Europe' Visits Budapest, 1905

Abstract

Not long after her world-famous book, The Century of the Child, was published, Ellen Key wrote the somewhat controversial book Love and Marriage. The volume’s hostile critical reception in Sweden prompted Key to embark on a lecture tour around Europe. Other than visiting Berlin, Vienna, and Prague, in March 1905 she held two talks in Budapest, Hungary. The reception of her lectures was mixed: her female audience exalted her views while men disparaged her work. Based on the contemporary press, this paper provides a historical overview of Ellen Key's work while also analysing her visit to Budapest and subsequent reception in Hungary. The broader aim of this examination is to assess why Hungarian research literature exclusively views Ellen Key as an educator and the author of The Century of the Child when her work extended far beyond either role.