Maria Nielsen (1882–1931) was a Danish historian and headmistress. In 1919, she became one of the first women in Denmark to head a public high school when she was appointed rector of Rysensteen Gymnasium in Copenhagen. She was particularly attentive to pupils from needy homes and strove to provide better living conditions for her female students. Nielsen also published well-sourced history textbooks in an attempt to move away from

rote learning Rote learning is a memorization technique based on repetition. The method rests on the premise that the recall of repeated material becomes faster the more one repeats it. Some of the alternatives to rote learning include meaningful learning, ...

. In 1926, she was behind the establishment of Denmark's History Teachers' Union (Historielærerforening) which she chaired until her death. She was also active in the educational activities of the

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

, participating in sessions held in Geneva.

Early life and education

Born in Vemmetofte Parish,

Faxe Municipality Faxe Municipality () is a '' kommune'' in Denmark in the Region Sjælland on the island of Zealand. The municipality covers an area of 406 km2 and has a population of 37,820 (2025). Its mayor as of January 2018 is Ole Vive. He is a member o ...

, on 20 September 1882, Maria Nielsen was the daughter of the physician Rudolf Rasmus Nielsen (1842–97) and his wife Amalia Marie née Schindel (1845–1922), As the family's only child, after her father's death when she was 15, she was able to continue her education at Frederiksberg Realskole in 1904. In 1910, she earned a master's degree in history, Latin and English at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...

and went on to win the university's gold medal in 1912 for defending her thesis ''De ikke-nordiske Landes Deltagelse i Handelen paa Nord- og Østersøen i 1500- og 1600-Tallet'' (Participation of non-nordic countries in trade on the North and the Baltic Seas in the 16th and 17th centuries).

Career

Although she continued her interest in history, she devoted her attention to teaching at N. Zahle's School, Marie Kruse's School and in particular at Laura Engelhard's School which in 1919 was acquired by Copenhagen Municipality and renamed Rysensteen Gymnasium. That year she was appointed rector or headmistress as Laura Engelhardt was not sufficiently qualified. She was one of the first three women to be appointed rector of a public gymnasium, the others being Antoinette Dickmeiss and Karen Kjær. In 1929–30, she published her two-volume Nordic history textbook for gymnasiums: ''Lærebog i Nordens Historie for Gymnasiet'' Based on the most recent findings and richly illustrated, it was designed to provide easier access to the subject and was used in no less than 48 gymnasium classes. Nielsen was particularly attentive to pupils from needy backgrounds and strove to provide better accommodation for her female students. She was active in union circles; in 1926 she founded Denmark's History Teachers Union, chairing it for the remainder of her life. She played an active role in the educational activities of the

, participating in its sessions in Geneva. Maria Nielsen died in Copenhagen on 11 September 1931, aged only 49. She was buried in Vemmetofte Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nielsen, Maria 1882 births 1931 deaths Danish historians Danish women historians Danish headmistresses 20th-century Danish non-fiction writers 20th-century Danish women writers University of Copenhagen alumni