The Name ELENOR

Why ELENOR? – On the Meaning of the Name and Subtitle

ELENOR – Feminist Memory in Action is the name of our network — a name chosen with care to reflect our history, vision, and values.

The name became active with the official founding of the network on May 14, 2025. It marks not just a title, but a shared point of departure: a commitment to working together across institutions, languages, and contexts to shape feminist memory in new and connected ways.

A real name, not an acronym

Unlike many institutional projects or networks, we selected not to use an acronym. Instead, we opted for a real name.
ELENOR is easy to say, memorable, and personal. Its spelling might feel unfamiliar to some – and that’s intentional. The unfamiliar invites conversation, reflection, and questioning – all of which are essential to our feminist approach.

Many ELENORs – many stories

The name doesn’t refer to a single historical figure.
Rather, it evokes many ELENORS — women and feminists from different eras, regions, and movements:

  • Eleanor of Aquitaine, a powerful medieval ruler and patron of the arts
  • Eleanor Marx, early feminist and socialist thinker
  • Eleanor Rathbone, advocate for refugee rights and family allowances
  • Eleonore Romberg, German peace and women’s rights activist
  • …

… and many more: artists, writers, activists, visionaries.
The list continues to grow (see the list below).

The name is an open invitation: Who is your ELENOR?
Who embodies feminist memory, resistance, or transformation for you?

Feminist Memory in Action – Our subtitle

The subtitle expresses what this network is all about:

  • Feminist: We come from different institutions and countries — libraries, archives, documentation centres, activist spaces — but we are united by a shared feminist commitment in our work.
  • Memory: We engage in feminist memory work — collecting, preserving, and making visible the stories, materials, and voices that shape feminist and queer histories. This includes not just the past, but the future: the histories yet to be made.
  • In Action: ELENOR is not about static remembrance. It’s about movement, dialogue, and collaboration. Memory, for us, is political, collective, and alive.

List of ELENORS… for now

  • Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122–1204) Duchess of Aquitaine, Queen of France, and later Queen of England; one of the most powerful women of the Middle Ages.
  • Eleanor of Castile (1241–1290) Queen of England as the wife of Edward I; supported her husband politically and militarily.
  • Eleanor of Provence (1223–1291) Queen of England through her marriage to Henry III; known for her political influence at court.
  • Eleanor of Portugal (1328–1348) Queen of Aragon; played a politically influential role during her short life.
  • Eleanor of Arborea (1350–1404) Sardinian judge and folk heroine; known for the Carta de Logu, a legal code promoting gender equality and protecting women from violence.
  • Eleanor of Austria (1498–1558) Sister of Emperor Charles V; Queen of Portugal and later Queen of France through dynastic marriages.
  • Eleanor of England (1215–1275) Daughter of King John of England; married Simon de Montfort, a key figure in English constitutional history.
  • Eleonora Gonzaga (1598–1655) Holy Roman Empress; patron of the arts and cultural life at the imperial court.
  • Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) U.S. First Lady, diplomat, and human rights activist; played a leading role in drafting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
  • Eleanor Smeal (born 1939) American feminist and president of the Feminist Majority Foundation; advocate for women’s reproductive rights and gender equality.
  • Eleanor Marx (1855–1898) Daughter of Karl Marx; socialist activist, writer, and early feminist.
  • Eleonora Duse (1858–1924) Celebrated Italian stage actress; known for her naturalistic acting style and influence on modern theater.
  • Eleanor Rathbone (1872–1946) British social reformer and women’s rights activist; campaigned for family allowances and refugee protection.
  • Eleanor Powell (1912–1982) American tap dancer and actress; renowned for her performances in Hollywood musicals of the 1930s and 1940s.
  • Eleanor Hibbert (1906–1993) Prolific British author who wrote historical fiction under several pen names, including Jean Plaidy and Victoria Holt.
  • Eleonore Romberg (1923–2004) German sociologist, peace and women’s rights activist, and member of the Bavarian State Parliament.
  • Lenore Kandel (1932–2009) American poet of the Beat Generation; known for her erotic and mystical poetry.
  • Eleanor Catton (born 1985) New Zealand author; youngest recipient of the Booker Prize for her novel The Luminaries.
  • Elinor Dashwood Fictional character in Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility; known for her sense of duty and emotional restraint.
  • “Theresie und Eleonore” Title of an early women’s magazine edited by Joseph von Sonnenfels, reflecting Enlightenment-era discourse on women.
  • Elisabeth Eleonore Bernhardi (1768–1849) German writer and educator; advocated for women’s education and wrote under the pseudonym Philogyn.
  • Margarethe Lenore Selenka (1860–1922) German zoologist, women’s rights advocate, and peace activist; participated in international feminist and pacifist movements.