Petra Gregorine Fernanda Nissen (née Thomesen; 15 August 1862 – 3 April 1920) was a Norwegian journalist, literary critic, theatre critic, politician and feminist pioneer.

Early and personal life

Fernanda Thomesen was born in

Sannidal Sannidal is a List of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in Telemark county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1960. The area is now part of Kragerø Municipality. The administrative centre was ...

, as the daughter of ship owner and consul Thomes Thomesen and Bertha Marthine Olea Debes. She was a niece of Ole Thomesen. She was married to newspaper editor and politician Lars Holst from 1882 to 1895, and to physician Oscar Egede Nissen from 1895 to 1911. Through her sister Sophie, she was sister-in-law of painter and illustrator Erik Werenskiold, and an aunt of Werner and Dagfin Werenskiold.

Career

Nissen worked several years as a teacher, and later journalist. She was journalist for ''

Dagbladet () is one of Norway's largest newspapers and is published in the Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. It has 1,400,000 daily readers on mobile, web and paper. Traditionally it was considered the main liberal newspaper of Norway, with a ...

'' in the 1880s, and literary critic and theatre critic for the newspaper ''

Social-Demokraten ''Social-Demokraten'' () was a Swedish daily Social Democratic newspaper, belonging to the Swedish Social Democratic Party. The paper was founded in 1885 by Axel Danielsson and August Palm. Palm also edited the paper from 1885 to 1886. Another ...

'' from 1892 to 1918. She was chairwoman for ''Fyrstikkarbeidernes fagforening'' from its establishment in 1889. She edited the magazine ''Kvinden'' from 1909. She was employed as a public film censor from 1913, as one of the two first film censor in Norway. She belonged to a network of female writers and critics, including

Nini Roll Anker Nini Roll Anker (3 May 1873 – 20 May 1942) was a Norwegian novelist and playwright. Her books often concerned the lives of women within different social classes as well as the women's rights movement and the rights of the working class. P ...

, Hulda Garborg and

Sigrid Undset Sigrid Undset (; 20 May 1882 – 10 June 1949) was a Danish people, Danish-born Norwegian people, Norwegian novelist. She was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Prize for Literature in 1928 Nobel Prize in Literature, 1928. Born in Den ...

. In the 1880s she was politically active for the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

. She represented the Labour Party 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 ...

city council from 1910. As an Oslo politician she chaired the Park committee, and she worked for improving conditions for poor people, especially women and children. She was also preoccupied with education, and the Oslo domestic school () was established on her initiative. She died in

Barmen Barmen is a former industrial metropolis of the region of Bergisches Land, Germany, which merged with four other towns in 1929 to form the city of Wuppertal. Barmen, together with the neighbouring town of Elberfeld founded the first electric ...

, Germany in 1920. A street in the borough

Sagene Sagene is a List of boroughs of Oslo, borough of the city of Oslo, Norway. The area became part of the city of Oslo (then Oslo, Christiania) in 1859. The name Sagene itself is the plural of the Norwegian language, Norwegian word for "saw", reflec ...

in Oslo was named after her in 1923, and a memorial was put up in the

Torshov Torshov is a neighborhood north of Grünerløkka and Lilleborg in the Sagene borough of Oslo, Norway. The Oslo Tramway (''Trikken i Oslo'') provides connections with lines running between Majorstuen and Kjelsås. Vogts gate serves as the m ...

Park in Oslo in 1931.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nissen, Fernanda 1862 births 1920 deaths Norwegian feminists Dagbladet people Norwegian literary critics Norwegian women literary critics Norwegian theatre critics Norwegian women non-fiction writers Norwegian magazine editors Norwegian women theatre critics Norwegian women journalists Norwegian women editors Labour Party (Norway) politicians Politicians from Oslo Norwegian Association for Women's Rights people Women film pioneers