Celebrating women’s achievements and increasing visibility, while calling out inequality. International Women’s Day belongs to everyone, everywhere.
For more than a century people around the world have been marking 8 March as a special day for women. This day is to celebrate the social, cultural, economic and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality.
*****
At The Fellows House we are very proud of our excellent women, a few members of our team shared their views and traditions on this special day:
Lorna, our Chief Operating Officer shared her thoughts on the IWD: ‘I have always been passionate about the many women in my life who have provided me with inspiration throughout my life and it is my goal in life to ensure that all women are supported to fulfil their potential and become more than they dreamed possible. My nan sadly passed away when I was 13, yet showed me from a young age to stand up for what you believe in, stay strong, look ahead and put first things first. I have followed my nan’s legacy with my own daughters who are bold, courageous, determined and resilient and champion women in their lives too. On International Women’s Day I would like to celebrate not only the women who have touched my life and contributed to my journey but also the men who have embraced equality and educated others to do the same.’
The Sage of Cambridge Manager, Andrea, is originally from Turin, Italy, and he has shared his fond memories about the International Women’s Day: ‘Porta Palazzo is an open-air market in Turin, it used to be the largest market in Europe. I have very fond memories of this place. Every March, the market was so beautiful, filled with Mimosas flowers, which are purchased and given to all women, including teachers, classmates, mothers and sisters. Mimosas flowers were chosen by feminists in Italy as a symbol of strength for Women’s Day. International Women’s Day, also known as Festa della Donna, is celebrated by all family members, the whole city and in most of the country.’
Claudia, the Director of Housekeeping says: ‘My family in Romania celebrates the International Women’s Day by going out for a nice meal. The female members of the family receive flower and mother receive heftier gifts such as gold accessories.’
*****
To celebrate this special day, we are offering a complimentary glass of prosecco to every woman dinning at The Folio Bar & Kitchen on the 8th of March 2023.
Also, for those celebration on the weekend, you can join us for a delicious bottomless brunch on the 11th of March. You can choose from our a la carte brunch menu, and dive in our ‘continental style’ breakfast buffet, including warm pastries, cheese and meats selection, fresh berries and yogurts and much more. Accompanied with bottomless tea, coffee and selected of brunch cocktails for 1.5 hours. To book your table, visit our Eventbrite.
*****
Feel at home Feel inspired Feel like a fellow
The Fellows House is inspired by the great university fellows past and present. On this International Women’s Day we would like to highlight some of the excellent female fellows featured in our hotel’s artwork.
The Folio Bar‘DNA Wall’
The panel in The Folio Bar celebrates the discovery of DNA by Rosalind Franklin and its unique structure as modelled by Jim Watson and Francis Crick.
The Observatory
Jennifer Sidey-Gibbons: Fellow of Christ’s College
Typography portraits of astronaut, Jennifer Sidey-Gibbons and sculptor, Antony Gormley, made up of the words ‘space’ and ‘time’.
In physics, spacetime is any mathematical model which fuses the three dimensions of space and the one dimension of time into a single four-dimensional manifold. Spacetime diagrams can be used to visualise relativistic effects, such as why different observers perceive differently where and when events occur.
Sidey-Gibbons is the youngest astronaut to have been hired by the Canadian Space Agency. Prior to that, she lectured at the Department of Engineering at Cambridge University.
Spa & Gym Corridor
Jane Goodhall: Fellow of Darwin College, PHD in Ethology
Recipient of the Hawking Fellowship in 2020. As a young woman, Jane travelled to Gombe (Kenya) and opened a new, remarkable window to human beings’ closest living relatives, changing our views on chimpanzees and conservation permanently. She was the first to observe and record the making of ‘tools’ by animals other than humans. Her full list of prizes is extensive and includes the Kyoto Prize, the Benjamin Franklin Medal for Life Sciences and the Gandhi-King award for nonviolence.
Guest Room Corridors
Series of minimalist hand drawn portraits of Cambridge Fellows:
Anne Barton: Fellow of Trinity College and once the Chair of the Faculty Board of English
Dorothy Needham: A co-founder and Fellow of Lucy Cavendish College, and the first female fellow of Gonville and Caius College Lu Gwei-djen: A Foundation Fellow of Lucy Cavendish College
Dame Emma Thompson: An alumni student of Newnham College
Sucheta Nadkarni: A Fellow of Newnham College
Dame Honor Fell: A Fellow of the Royal Society
Dame Mary Cartwright: A Fellow of Girton College
Olga Taussky-Todd: A Fellow at Girton College, as well as at Bryn Mawr College