Few know who she is, Janna van Bekkum-van Gorkum. Yet she has been of great significance in Eindhoven. She was the first woman on the city council exactly 100 years ago. Her great-granddaughter and the municipality are now reflecting on that.
Van Bekkem-van Gorkum was a member of the municipal council from 1923 to 1926, not long after women’s suffrage was introduced. She was an ambitious woman. In addition to political work for the Social Democratic Workers’ Party (SDAP), she was also the mother of four children in a socialist family.
Pride
“I am very proud of my great-grandmother. It was very special what she did, in a real man’s world at the time. I am proud of her ideas, perseverance and ambition. She was also a very sweet mother,” says great-grandchild Inge Wessels.
Source: Studio040
For Eindhoven News: Lila Mehrez
