Key, Ellen

Key, Ellen kā [key], 1849–1926, Swedish author, critic, and ideologue. Believing that women are primarily fitted for motherhood, she deplored feminist claims to equality on the labor market. Her ideas regarding state child support influenced social legislation in several countries. Among her best-known works published in English are Love and Marriage (1911, repr. with critical and biographical notes by Havelock Ellis, 1931), The Century of the Child (1909), The Woman Movement (1912), The Younger Generation (1914), and War, Peace, and the Future (1916).

See studies by U. Wittrock (1953), J. Senn (1975), and R. DeAngelis (1978).

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2026, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

See more Encyclopedia articles on: Social Reformers