Wynner, Edith.

Edith Wynner was born Edith Weiner on December 22, 1915 in Budapest, Hungary to Frieda Herskovics and Robert Weiner. Her father, a jeweler, left Hungary at the end of World War I for the United States and anglicized the family surname to Wynner; Edith, her mother, and brother, Albert, followed in 1923. Because of her family's travels, including extended visits to family in Czechoslovakia, Wynner was fluent in Hungarian, German, English, Slovak, and French from a young age. The Wynners settled in Chicago, Illinois, where Edith graduated from Theodore Roosevelt High School and was first introduced to Mme. Rosika Schwimmer.

Wynner moved to New York City after high school with the intention of attending Hunter College; however, the effects of the Great Depression forced her to find full-time employment at 19 years old. Because of her language skills and interest in activism, she became secretary to Rosika Schwimmer in 1934. Wynner became closely involved in the issues Schwimmer advocated for, and Schwimmer pushed her to begin delivering small lectures and publishing her writing. In addition to working as Schwimmer's personal secretary, Wynner served as National Secretary of the Griffin-O'Day Bill Committee from 1934 to 1936, and from 1937 to 1941 as New York Secretary and delegate of the Campaign for World Government-which were headed by Schwimmer and her longtime associate, Lola Maverick Lloyd.

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