# Bella Keyzer

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Bella_Keyzer
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Bella_Keyzer.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bella_Keyzer
> Source revision: 1353675070
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{short description|(1922–1992), Scottish textile and shipyard worker, and women's activist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name        = Bella Keyzer
| image       = Bella_Keyzer_the_shipyard_welder.jpeg
| caption     = by A.Gow (fair use only)
| birth_name  = Isabella Mitchell
| birth_date  = 29 August 1922
| birth_place = [Dundee](/source/Dundee)
| death_date  = {{death date and age text|18 July 1992|29 August 1922}}
| death_place = [Dundee](/source/Dundee)
| death_cause =
| other_names =
| known_for   = an icon for women's equality
| education   =
| employer    = Caledon
| occupation  = weaver and welder
| spouse      = Dirk Keyzer
| children    = one
| parents     =
| relatives   =
| signature   =
| website     =
| footnotes   =
}}
'''Isabella "Bella" Keyzer''' born '''Isabella Mitchell''' (29 August 1922 – 18 July 1992) was a [Scottish](/source/United_Kingdom) weaver who became a welder and shipyard worker. Following the [Sex Discrimination Act in 1975](/source/Sex_Discrimination_Act_1975) she returned to her wartime occupation as a welder in the Scottish shipyards. She is recognised as an icon for women's equality.

==Life==
Keyzer was born in [Dundee](/source/Dundee) in 1922.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Bella Keyzer {{!}} Mapping Memorials to Women in Scotland|url=http://womenofscotland.org.uk/women/bella-keyzer|access-date=2020-11-04|website=womenofscotland.org.uk}}</ref> She was the last of three children born to Isabella (born Campbell) and Thomas Mitchell. Her mother worked as a cleaner and in confectionary and her father was a foreman in a bakery<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Ewan|first1=Elizabeth L.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zs6qBgAAQBAJ&q=Bella+Keyzer&pg=PA196|title=Biographical Dictionary of ScottishWomen|last2=Innes|first2=Sue|last3=Reynolds|first3=Sian|last4=Pipes|first4=Rose|date=2007-06-27|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|page=196|isbn=978-0-7486-2660-1|language=en}}</ref> and he had been married before. The family of five lived in two rooms but her home had a good supply of books. Their parents had given her brother the middle name of Lenin. Her father was an active trade [unionist](/source/Unionism_in_Ireland)<ref name=bella/> and he was placed in prison during the 1926 General Strike.<ref name=trail/>

As soon as she left school she was trained as a weaver and she held that job until well after the second world war broke out in 1939. She was still weaving canvas in 1941 but she had a child with Dirk Keyzer who fought with the allies as a member of the Dutch [Royal Navy](/source/Royal_Navy). He was [mentioned in dispatches](/source/mentioned_in_dispatches) for bravery in evacuating British Military Personnel at Dunkirk and awarded medals by [Queen Wilhelmina](/source/Wilhelmina_of_the_Netherlands) of the Netherlands. He is commemorated in the Marinemuseum in Den Helder (Netherlands) They married on his return from the war.
<ref name=bella/>

In 1942, Keyzer decided that she could get more time with her child if she became a welder. At the time she was working long hours as a munitions worker. She was accepted for training in [Rosyth](/source/Rosyth) for six weeks and returned to the Caledon shipyard to work alongside the other (male) welders. She had a steady job until just before the war ended.<ref name=bella>{{Cite ODNB|title=Keyzer [née Mitchell], Isabella [Bella] (1922–1992), textile and shipyard worker, and women's activist|url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-54416|access-date=2020-11-04|year = 2004|language=en|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/54416}}</ref> She married Dirk Keyzer on 1 November 1949<ref name=trail/> and they went to live in the Netherlands until 1957. She was fluent in the [Dutch](/source/Dutch_language) language. In 1975 the [Sex Opportunities Act](/source/Sex_Discrimination_Act_1975) was passed in 1975. She went back to work in the UK and in 1976 she enrolled at 1976 [Dundee Technical College](/source/Abertay_University) where she reminded herself of her skill at welding. The union accepted her as a member but she did not get any interviews until she applied as "Mr I. Keyzer". It was a lonely path but she re-entered the shipyards, as she later said, as a "fat grey haired wifee".<ref name=bella/>

In the last half of the 1980s her contribution came to notice. The Dundee Oral History Project began in 1985 and interviews by BBC2 and Scottish Television.<ref name=bella/> In 1992 [Dundee District Council](/source/Dundee_District_Council) recognised her as a role model for improving women’s equality and gave her an award.<ref name=trail/>

Keyzer died in [Dundee](/source/Dundee) in 1992. She has a plaque in Dundee to record her life.<ref name=trail>{{Cite web|title=Bella Keyzer {{!}} Dundee Women's Trail|url=http://www.dundeewomenstrail.org.uk/womens-trail/bella-keyzer/|access-date=2020-11-04|language=en-US}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keyzer, Bella}}
Category:1922 births
Category:1992 deaths
Category:Activists from Dundee
Category:Scottish activists
Category:Welders

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Bella Keyzer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bella_Keyzer) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bella_Keyzer?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.