Elizabeth Maria Molteno (24 September 1852 – 25 August 1927), was an early South African British activist for civil and women's rights in South Africa.
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Early life
Elizabeth was born into an influential Cape family of Italian origin. She was the oldest and much beloved daughter of John Molteno, the first Prime Minister of the Cape, and many of her 18 siblings came to hold positions of influence in business and government. She spent her earliest years in the protected surroundings of her family's Claremont estate in Cape Town, where she was educated. Her father travelled frequently, for diplomatic or business reasons, and he often let his older children accompany him on such trips. Consequently, Elizabeth travelled a great deal as a child, especially to Italy and London, and grew up to share her father's interest in politics and current affairs.
Fiercely intelligent, with a strong personality and an extraordinary memory, she developed views and habits which were unconventional for a girl in the Victorian era. "Betty", as she preferred to be called, abandoned the fine clothes and material privileges of her youth. She took on a simple lifestyle, rough clothes and vegetarianism, and showed more interest in science and politics, than in marriage and children. In her personal beliefs she claimed to be spiritual but non-religious, and she acquired a firm lifelong belief in the principles of gender and racial equality. After matriculating, she chose not to marry, but to study further at Newnham College, Cambridge.
Educationalist
Choosing one of the few careers that were open to women in the 19th century, she became a teacher, and then the principal of the Collegiate School for girls in Port Elizabeth. There she revolutionised the Victorian education system, which was heavily based on rote learning and was restricted to subjects that were deemed appropriate for women. She applied methods of teaching which were advanced and liberal for the time, including what was probably the first system of sex education for girls in the country. She had an ardent lifelong belief in the importance of girls' education, so much so that she refused to draw a salary for her administrative and educational work.
Political activism
She was openly against the Anglo-Boer War when it began, and for this reason was forced to give up her job. Anti-war activists were generally labelled as "pro-Boer" by their opponents, and were put under great social pressure. The white community of Port Elizabeth was also strongly pro-British and when Miss Molteno refused to stop her protests she was forced to resign, despite a campaign of support from her ex-pupils and colleagues.
She moved back to Cape Town in 1899 and became a founding member of the South Africa Conciliation Committee. Here she co-organised a series of mass meetings, attended by thousands, to protest the war and the ethnic divisions it was causing.
Miss Molteno had become close friends with Emily Hobhouse and Olive Schreiner and worked with them on humanitarian and anti-war causes both during and after the Boer War. With them, she passionately campaigned for the Boer women and children interned in the British concentration camps and the burning of the Boer farmlands. In Port Elizabeth she also made the acquaintance of Alice Greene (aunt of the writer Graham Greene), who was her employee as the vice-principal of the Collegiate School and was also involved in anti-war activism. The two women had very similar views and thereafter maintained a lifelong friendship.
After the war, Miss Molteno opposed the radical new political developments in South Africa and left for England. There she met Gandhi in 1909. They became friends, exchanged ideas and regularly corresponded over the next few decades. In London she also became a follower of the suffragette movement, and its more radical leaders such as Christabel Pankhurst.
She returned to South Africa in 1912, and became heavily involved in the causes of non-racialism. She was an extremely talented public speaker and this, together with her confidence and social standing, meant that she was greatly in demand to address public meetings on these causes. Throughout her life she was also a writer for a range of British and South African publications. Emily Hobhouse later wrote of her: "Your gift of seeing into the heart of things is so great, and you have control of such exquisite language for expressing moral and spiritual aspects". In addition, her writings drew considerable attention due to their radical (and often anti-imperialistic) language.