Alette Marie Engelhart, née Nicolaysen (7 May 1896 – 13 August 1984) was a Norwegian housewives' leader.

Biography

Alette was born in

Kristiania Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022, an ...

as a daughter of captain and engineer Anton Martin Schweigaard Nicolaysen (1870–1907) and Dorothea Jeanette Horn (1870–1943). She was a niece of Hassa Horn and a grandniece of Hassa Horn, Sr. She finished her secondary education at

Frogner School Frogner School ( and subsequently ''Frogner Realskole og Gymnas'', commonly known as ''Frogner skole'') was a secondary school at Frogner in Oslo, Norway. The school was a continuation of the Gjertsen School, which had been founded in 1869. Gjer ...

in 1915, and graduated as a teacher from Nissen School in 1916. After four years as a teacher at Frogner School, in 1920 she married veterinarian Bernt Engelhart (1889–1961), a son of politician

Thomas von Westen Engelhart Thomas von Westen Engelhart (6 October 1850 – 3 August 1905) was a Norwegian jurist and politician for the Liberal Party. Biography He was born in Vinger Municipality in Hedmark county, Norway. He graduated in 1871 with a law degree. Engelhart ...

. The family moved around in Norway a lot, among others to

Harstad Harstad may refer to: Places *Harstad (town) Harstad (; ) is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Harstad Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The city is also the administrative centre of Harstad Municipality. The city has a populati ...

and

Eidsvoll Eidsvoll (; sometimes written as ''Eidsvold'') is a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Akershus Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Romerike Districts of Norway, traditional region. The administrative centre of the munic ...

. Mrs. Engelhart became active in the Norwegian Housewives' Association (from 1997: the Norwegian Women and Family Association), and after the

occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until th ...

when her housewife association work had largely been abandoned, she took the helm of the whole organization in 1946, chairing it until 1959. She was also a member of several committees and councils to improve housework and

home economics Home economics, also called domestic science or family and consumer sciences (often shortened to FCS or FACS), is a subject concerning human development, personal and family finances, consumer issues, housing and interior design, nutrition and f ...

, and she was a board member of the

Norwegian National Women's Council The Norwegian National Women's Council () was founded on 8 January 1904 as an umbrella organization for the various Norwegian women's associations. It was established by Gina Krog whose international contacts had revealed that the International Co ...

. From 1956 to 1960 she chaired the Nordic Housewives' Association. She chaired the United Nations Association of Norway from 1948 to 1952, and was active in

Foreningen Norden Foreningen Norden (Norwegian and Danish), Föreningen Norden (Swedish), Norræna félagið (Icelandic), Norrøna Felagið (Faroese), Peqatigiiffik Nunat Avannarliit (Greenlandic) and Pohjola-Norden (Finnish), ''The Norden Associations'', sometimes ...

and Landsforeningen Norsk Arbeide. She was decorated as a Knight, First Class of the

Order of St. Olav The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav (; or ''Sanct Olafs Orden'', the old Norwegian name) is a Norwegian order of chivalry instituted by King Oscar I on 21 August 1847. It is named after King Olav II, known to posterity as St. Olav. Just be ...

in 1955. Dame Engelhardt died in August 1984 in Oslo. Alette Engelhart

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Engelhart, Alette 1896 births 1984 deaths Schoolteachers from Oslo 20th-century Norwegian women 20th-century Norwegian people 20th-century Norwegian educators