“Certainly it may, under present imperfect conditions, often be a duty not to destroy the outward form of marriage for the sake of the children. But by no means can this duty be preached as universally binding.”

Swedish writer and social thinker

Ellen Key was a Swedish writer and social thinker associated with the Modern Breakthrough movement. She lived from 1849 to 1926 and wrote on family life, ethics, education, and women's rights. She is especially remembered as an early advocate of child-centered education and parenting. Her work also placed her among the women’s suffrage advocates of her time, and her writing often returned to questions of home, moral life, and how society should shape the next generation.