Louise Nørlund
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Marie Sørine ''Louise'' Nørlund (1854–1919) was a Danish
feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...
and pacifist. She was the founder and chairman of the Danske Kvindeforeningers Valgretsforbund or DKV (the Danish Women's Society's Suffrage Union) in 1898–1907 and 1908–1909.


Life

She was the daughter of the farmer and parliamentarian Mikkel Hasle Christiansen (1816–83) and Ane Jacobsdatter (1820–88). She married journalist and publisher Niels Jensen Nørlund (1854–1894) in 1881, but the couple divorced in 1892, and after the death of her former spouse, she was left in full responsibility for their only child, Agnes. Louise Nørlund was early interested in politics, as her parents’ home was a center for radical democrats. She took her teacher's exam from Beyer, Bohrs og Femmers Kursus and was employed as a teacher at the Larslejstrædes Skole in 1878–1910. In her profession, she participated in the foundation of the Kbh.s Kommunelærerindeforening (The Copenhagen Association of Female Teachers) in 1891. She was also engaged in the peace movement: she was a member of the
Dansk Fredsforening ''Dansk Fredsforening'' or the Danish Peace Society was founded by Fredrik Bajer in 1882 when it was initially called ''Foreningen til Danmarks Neutralisering'' (Society for Denmark's Neutralization). It called for an international arbitration tr ...
(Danish Peace Movement), where she was active as speaker and writer and a delegate to the International women's peace congress in
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in 1915, where the
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) is a non-profit non-governmental organization working "to bring together women of different political views and philosophical and religious backgrounds determined to study and make kno ...
was founded. Nørlund is, however, most known for her work as a feminist. Initially, she was a member of the
Dansk Kvindesamfund The Danish Women's Society or DWS () is Denmark's oldest women's rights organization. It was founded in 1871 by activist Matilde Bajer and her husband Fredrik Bajer; Fredrik was a Member of Parliament and the 1908 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. The ...
or DK (The Danish Women's Association), which was the first women's association in Denmark. She was a very active speaker, and instrumental in its breakthrough in the provinces. She was, however, impatient of DK:s hesitance to support the question of women suffrage, and in 1885, she left the DK, alongside among others Elisabet Ouchterlony and Matilde Bajer, to found the
Kvindelig Fremskridtsforening The Kvindelig Fremskridtsforening (KF), or Women's Progress Association, was a Danish women's association which was founded in 1885 by Matilde Bajer and Elisabeth Ouchterlony. They had both been co-founders of the Danish Women's Society (Dansk K ...
(Female Progress Union). In 1889, she also supported
Line Luplau Line Luplau (1823–1891) was a Danish feminist and suffragist. She was the co-founder of the Danske Kvindeforeningers Valgretsforbund or DKV (Danish Women's Society Suffrage Union) and first chairperson in 1889–1891. Life Line Luplau was born ...
in the foundation of the national
Kvindevalgretsforeningen Kvindevalgretsforeningen (KVF), or the Women's Suffrage Association, was a Danish organization established by Line Luplau in 1889 specifically to promote women's suffrage. The association not only organized meetings on voting rights but participat ...
(The Women Suffrage Union). She was the chairman of Kvindevalgretsforeningen 1891–1894. In 1898, the Kvindevalgretsforeningen was dissolved, and she founded
Danske Kvindeforeningers Valgretsudvalg 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 ...
, from 1904 called Danske Kvindeforeningers Valgretsforbund or DKV (The United Danish Suffrage Movements For Women). It was a union of many smaller Suffrage movements in Denmark united under her leadership. In 1904, when DKV was made of 22 different suffrage movements, she made it a part of the international suffrage movement under
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 ...
(
IWSA 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 ...
). She represented Denmark at the international suffrage conferences at
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in 1904,
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in 1908 and
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in 1913. She retired in 1909 and was replaced by Eline Hansen. Nørlund was a member of the liberal party and the first of her sex in its board in 1890–1904, but later left the party and was a candidate for the Social Democrats in the municipal elections in Copenhagen in 1909, but was forced the leave her candidacy for health reasons.


See also

*
List of peace activists This list of peace activists includes people who have proactively advocated Diplomacy, diplomatic, philosophical, and non-military resolution of major territorial or ideological disputes through nonviolent means and methods. Peace activists usua ...


References


Dansk Kvindebiografisk Leksikon

History of Woman Suffrage
by
Elizabeth Cady Stanton Elizabeth Cady Stanton ( Cady; November 12, 1815 – October 26, 1902) was an American writer and activist who was a leader of the women's rights movement in the U.S. during the mid- to late-19th century. She was the main force behind the 1848 ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Norlund, Louise 1854 births 1919 deaths Danish feminists Danish suffragists Danish pacifists Pacifist feminists 19th-century Danish people Women's International League for Peace and Freedom people Danish socialist feminists