International Women’s Day was first proposed in 1910 by German socialist activist Clara Zetkin at the International Conference of Working Women in Copenhagen, and the idea was adopted by over 100 women from 17 countries.

Quick Scoop: Who created International Women’s Day?

International Women’s Day did not appear out of nowhere or from a single government decree; it grew out of the early 1900s labor and socialist movements fighting for women workers’ rights and political equality.

The key figure: Clara Zetkin

  • Clara Zetkin was a German socialist and women’s rights campaigner active in the Social Democratic Party (SPD).
  • In 1910, at the Second International Conference of Working Women in Copenhagen, she formally proposed an “International Women’s Day” to be held every year, in every country, on the same day to press for women’s demands.
  • Her motion received unanimous support from more than 100 women delegates representing 17 countries, which effectively “created” the international day as a political tool and annual event.

In simple terms: Zetkin didn’t invent women’s struggles, but she turned them into a recurring global day of action.

Earlier roots before 1910

  • Before Zetkin’s proposal, the United States marked a “National Woman’s Day” on 28 February 1909, promoted by socialist organizer Theresa Malkiel, linked to New York garment workers’ protests over conditions and rights.
  • Inspired by this American initiative, German socialist Luise Zietz suggested a recurring women’s day, which Zetkin then took to the international stage and formalized as International Women’s Day.

So while the political and social roots lie in American labor struggles and broader socialist organizing, Clara Zetkin is the person most widely credited with creating International Women’s Day as a named, international observance.

From idea to global day

  • The first International Women’s Day was celebrated in 1911 in several European countries, following the 1910 decision, focusing on suffrage and labor rights.
  • Over the 20th century, the day spread globally, and the United Nations began officially marking International Women’s Day in 1975, helping cement March 8 as a worldwide date for gender equality campaigns.

Today, when people ask “who created International Women’s Day,” historians and major organizations typically point to Clara Zetkin as the originator of the concept and political framework, built on earlier women workers’ struggles and national women’s days.

TL;DR: Clara Zetkin, a German socialist, formally created International Women’s Day by proposing it in 1910 at an international conference, inspired by earlier women workers’ protests and the U.S. “National Woman’s Day.”

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.