Elna Munch (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Sarauw; 13 June 1871 – 17 November 1945) was a Danish feminist and politician, (

Danish Social Liberal Party The Danish Social Liberal Party (, RV, ) is a Social liberalism, social-liberal List of political parties in Denmark, political party in Denmark. The party was founded as a split from the Venstre (Denmark), Venstre Reform Party in 1905. Histori ...

). She was the co-founder of the

Landsforbundet for Kvinders Valgret Landsforbundet for Kvinders Valgret, or LKV (National Association for Women's Suffrage), was a Danish association for women's suffrage, active from 1907 until 1915. As the Danish Women's Society was initially not strongly committed to women's suff ...

( National Association for Women's Suffrage) or LKV (1907), the more radical of the two main Danish suffrage movements, and alongside Johanne Rambusch its leading member.

Biography

She was born to forester Conrad August Nicolaus Sarauw and Betzy Wilhelmine Hansen and was the younger sister of Clara Tybjerg (1864–1941). She was educated at the N. Zahle's School, studied mathematics at the Copenhagen University and became the second woman mathematician to graduate from a university after

Thyra Eibe Thyra Eibe (3 November 1866 – 4 January 1955) was a Danish mathematician and translator, the first woman to earn a mathematics degree from the University of Copenhagen. She is known for her translation of Euclid's '' Elements'' into the Danish ...

. She was a teacher at the school of

Marie Kruse Marie Caroline Ernestine Clementine Kruse (1842–1923) was a pioneering Danish schoolteacher and head teacher, principal, specializing in the education of girls. She also helped to establish and support several educational organisations for women ...

in 1900-1918 and married the politician

Peter Rochegune Munch Peter Rochegune Munch (in Danish usually referred to as ''P. Munch''; 30 April 1870 – 8 July 1948) was a prominent Danish historian and politician. He was a leading member of the '' Radikale Venstre'', and represented Langeland in parliament. ...

in 1902. She was the vice chairperson of the LKV from its foundation until its dissolution after the introduction of

women suffrage A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional uteruses ...

in 1915. She was the organiser of the local sections of the LKV, and represented Denmark at the congresses of the

International Woman Suffrage Alliance The International Alliance of Women (IAW; , AIF) is an international non-governmental organization that works to promote women's rights and gender equality. It was historically the main international organization that campaigned for women's suff ...

from 1906 to 1923. In 1918, when women could become candidates in national elections, she was one of the first four women to be elected to the

Folketing The Folketing ( , ), also known as the Parliament of Denmark or the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral national legislature (parliament) of the Kingdom of Denmark — Denmark proper together with the Faroe Islands and Greenland. E ...

(the Danish national parliament). She held her seat until 1935. She died on 17 November 1945 in Copenhagen.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Munch, Elna 1871 births 1945 deaths Danish feminists Danish suffragists Danish Social Liberal Party politicians People from Vordingborg Municipality 20th-century Danish women politicians