Elisabeth Norgall Award 2011:
Ms. Dr. Vilborg Ìsleifsdóttir-Bickel

Since the start of the Bosnian War in 1992, Dr. Vilborg Isleifsdóttir-Bickel has devoted herself to helping the women who have been mistreated, raped and driven into poverty or forced to flee. To further her good works she founded the organisation "Biser Wiesbaden e.V." with its aim to help and support traumatised Bosnian women.

For a Life of Dignity

This year’s Norgall Prize Winner, Dr. Vilborg Isleifsdóttir-Bickel, has worked hard since 1992 to help women who have been mistreated, raped, driven to poverty or forced to flee during the Bosnian War.

She was born in Reykjavik, Iceland and studied German, History and Latin. She taught at a teachers’ college in Reykjavik, at a grammar school at Laugarvatn and until 1983 worked for Iceland radio. She further studied History and Politics, receiving her doctorate in 1995. Since then she has lectured at Reykjavik University and has published a variety of articles in scientific periodicals in Iceland on the topic of early modern times.

In 1975 she moved to Wiesbaden where she is married to Christian Bickel and has two children.

As the co-founder of the organisation "Frauen in Schwarz Wiesbaden" (Women in Black Wiesbaden) she held weekly demonstrations in protest against the mass rape of women in Bosnia. She organised clothes collections and donations, both material and financial, to help the suffering population in occupied Sarajevo. She was supported in her work by the Ministry of Defence. She not only donated all of her time to this, she also let her apartment be used. At her initiative the organisation “Biser Wiesbaden e.V.” was founded with the aim of helping traumatised Bosnian women, finding them somewhere to live, offering them psychological and legal aid and helping them establish a future. Since its foundation she has been honorary chairman, and with a great deal of patience, energy and attention to detail she has worked within the organisation to establish three centres for women in Sarajevo, Travnik and Tuzla.

She has also let the organisation use her property for their work and personally financed the purchase of a school house in Sarajevo. By means of a network of like-minded women in Bosnia, which she has organised, the future of the project is ensured.

The fact that the State of Hesse has financed the purchase of a house in Tuzla and supported other projects is all due to her untiring energy and commitment.

At present, the costs of the centres are financed by support from the Foreign Office. She herself continues to successfully collect further support for education and the advancement of democracy in Bosnia from, amongst others, the EU, varying German institutions and individuals, the Icelandic Government and banks.

It is her greatest wish that women – regardless of where they live – should be able to live a life free from violence and as equal members of society. In Bosnia, this is a desire hampered by lack of resources and opportunities.

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