Stein, Nadia (born Brodsky)

Nadia Stein (née Brodsky) was born on 2.2.1891 in Odessa, Russian Empire, and died on 14.12.1961 in Haifa. She was a Zionist and a feminist activist. Her father was the chief engineer employed at the local oil wells. He died young, after which her mother moved with the children to Vienna. In 1911, Nadia received a high school teacher's degree in geography from the University of Vienna and worked at the reform school of Eugenie Schwarzwald. In 1917, she married Andor (Herbert) Ornstein, and in 1922, they had a daughter, Michaela (born 1922). As women in Austria were not permitted to study for a doctorate, Nadia continued her studies at the University of Zürich, and completed her doctorate in economics and sociology in 1919. Her thesis topic was municipal plebiscites in Zürich from 1893–1917. The persecution of the Jews after World War I prompted her to become associated with the Zionist Movement. From the time of the first WIZO Conference in Karlsbad in 1921, she became one of WIZO's most ardent advocates. Together with Anitta Müller-Cohen, Nadia Stein founded the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom in Vienna. Moving to Romania because of her husband’s work, she founded a branch of WIZO there and managed its cultural and propaganda work. She also arranged aid for thousands of refugees who fled from the pogroms in the Ukraine. From 1924 to 1926, Nadia worked as an organizer, publicist and speaker for Hadassah and the Jewish National Fund (JNF) in the United States and Canada. Upon her return to Europe in 1927, she founded a branch of WIZO in Berlin. In 1932, Nadia immigrated to Palestine and served as the head of WIZO's Propaganda and Publicity Department. In addition, she worked as an editor for the WIZO journal, and prepared written and pictorial information for about 50 WIZO federations. She also continued travelling across the globe working for Hadassah and the JNF. From 1932, Nadia also worked on the establishment of an educational film center in Israel. In 1950, the British WIZO office awarded her a two-year scholarship to study at the Hebrew University, where she carried out research on planning urban communities in Israel, with an emphasis on women's point of view. She spent one year in the United States and England engaging in housing projects and postwar community rebuilding and also made a study trip to Sweden and Denmark. In 1952, Nadia was invited by the Haifa Municipality to implement her plan of organized community services. In addition to all these activities, Nadia was also a freelance journalist and literary translator for several Zionist newspapers. After retiring from WIZO, Nadia founded The Golden Age Center in Haifa, a community center for the elderly.