Clara Meijers
Clara Mimi Meijers | |
|---|---|
| Born | Template:Birth date Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Died | October 13, 1964 (aged 79) Bentveld, Netherlands |
| Occupation(s) | Banker, author, feminist |
| Known for | Establishing a women's division within Robaver Bank; microfinance pioneer; Holocaust survivor |
Clara Mimi Meijers (27 August 1885 – 13 October 1964) was a Dutch banker, author, and feminist who established a women's division within the Robaver Bank in Amsterdam. Known as a "microfinance pioneer," she was also a survivor of the Holocaust.
Life and career
Clara was born in Amsterdam into a Jewish family of medical professionals, being the sole daughter of physician Isidor Meijers and Julie Wolff. She began her professional life teaching French in The Hague but soon shifted to banking, holding roles at Amsterdamsche Bank and Huydecoper & Van Dielen before joining Rotterdamsche Bankvereeniging (Robaver) in Amsterdam as executive secretary in 1911.
Around 1910, Meijers became involved in the women's rights movement. Encouraged by acquaintances Mia Boissevain and Rosa Manus, she played an instrumental role in organizing the 1913 exhibition De Vrouw 1813-1913 (The Woman). As president of the Banking and Office Industry Committee for the event, she championed the importance of women's employment within banking and clerical fields. It was during this time that she discovered the Berlin Women's Bank—a concept that motivated her to tackle banks' hesitancy to lend to female entrepreneurs and address the scarcity of financial services for working women.
Banking career
Although her initial attempt to launch a Dutch women's bank was thwarted by World War I, Meijers revived the initiative in the 1920s. The war had prompted many women to join the workforce and seek control over their finances. On 3 November 1928, she played a key role in inaugurating 'The Branch Office for Female Clients of Robaver' on Amsterdam’s Rokin canal, where she served as director. Between 1928 and 1938, this branch employed exclusively female staff.[1] Rosa Manus was its first client.
This branch allowed numerous women—including those unmarried, widowed, or students—to independently open and manage accounts. Several women's organizations also became clients. Beyond directing the branch, Meijers delivered numerous lectures on financial autonomy for women. She remained at the helm until 1938. Janneke Martens noted that "Clara Meijers enabled many women to achieve financial independence. In her Women's Bank, female clients were respected and empowered to handle their finances." The institution continued operations until 1971.[2]
Her practice of providing loans to women lacking capital who aimed to start their own businesses is considered an early form of microfinancing.[3]
Engagement with the women's movement
Meijers joined the Union for Women's Suffrage in 1913 and took on the role of treasurer for the International Archives for the Women’s Movement. In 1928, she co-established the Soroptimist club in North-Holland, part of a worldwide organization advocating for women's human rights. She also served as board member and treasurer of the National Union of Soroptimist Clubs and maintained her advocacy for women's causes after World War II.[1]
Deportation during World War II
Because of her Jewish background, Meijers stepped down from her positions during World War II. After relocating multiple times, she was detained at Westerbork transit camp in November 1943 and later deported on 4 September 1944 to the Terezín concentration camp in Czechoslovakia. She survived until liberation by Canadian forces in May 1945 and returned to Amsterdam by August 1945, settling at Roelof Hartplein.[2]
Writer
In 1946, Meijers released a biography focusing on the feminist Rosa Manus. Two years later, in 1948, she contributed the second section of From mother to daughter by Willemijn Posthumus-van der Goot, addressing subjects such as the 1898 National Exhibition of Women's Labor, the fight for voting rights, The Woman 1813-1913 exhibition, educational opportunities, and societal progress.
Personal life
Meijers moved to Zandvoort, Netherlands, in 1959 and died at the age of 79 on 12 October 1964 in Bentveld. She remained unmarried throughout her life.
Select publications
- Meijers, C. M. (1946). Een moderne vrouw van formaat: Leven en werken van Rosa Manus (A modern woman of stature: Life and works of Rosa Manus). Brill.
- Meijers, C. M. (1948). Entry into society, 1898-1928, in WH Posthumus-van der Goot (ed.), From mother to daughter: Women's share in a changing world (Leiden), pp. 193–372.