Nanna Kristensen-Randers née Berg (1864–1908) was a Danish lawyer and

folk high school Folk high schools (also ''adult education center'') are institutions for adult education that generally do not grant academic degrees, though certain courses might exist leading to that goal. They are most commonly found in Nordic countries and i ...

administrator. In 1887, she became the first Danish woman to receive a law diploma. From 1894, she assisted her husband, J.P. Kristensen-Randers, in running

Ollerup Ollerup is a town located on the island of Funen in south-central Denmark, in Svendborg Municipality. Notable people * Nanna Kristensen-Randers (1864–1908) a Danish lawyer and folk high school administrator; from 1894 she assisted in running ...

Højskole on the island of

Funen Funen (, ), is the third-largest List of islands of Denmark, island of Denmark, after Zealand and North Jutlandic Island, Vendsyssel-Thy, with an area of . It is the List of islands by area, 165th-largest island in the world. It is located in th ...

Early life and education

Born on 3 November 1864 on the island of

Bogø Bogø () is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea, just west of Møn. The population is 1,183 (1 January 2024) with 930 living in the only town on the island, ''Bogø By''. The island is approximately 7 km long by 3 km wide at the largest p ...

, Nanna Berg was the daughter of the politician Chresten Poulsen Berg (1829–91) and the publisher Maren Bertelsen (1836–1906). She was brought up in a Grundtvegian milieu, her father being the founder of Bogø's Navigation School. In 1876, she moved with her family to

Hillerød Hillerød () is a Denmark, Danish town with a population of 36,604 (1 January 2025)Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

in 1884, she attended N. Zahle's School where she was said to have been extraordinarily hard-working and gifted.

Career

Berg was the first woman in Denmark to receive a legal qualification from 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. ...

. In 1887, she successfully completed the course introduced under the political reforms to solve the problem of inadequate manning of the lower courts of law. She worked for the established lawyer Svend Høgsbro (1855–1910) who allowed her to represent him in court. Despite his efforts, as a woman she was however not permitted to work in high courts such as

Østre Landsret The Østre Landsret (Eastern High Court), established in 1919, is one of Denmark's two High Courts, along with the Vestre Landsret (Western High Court). Both High Courts function as a civil and criminal appellate court for cases from the subordina ...

and Højesteret. This state of affairs continued until 1909 when Henny Magnussen was permitted to follow the full university law course leading to the degree cand.jur. Following in her father's footsteps, Nanna Berg worked for a time as his secretary. She became an active member of the

Danish Women's Society 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 as ...

, lecturing at various folk high schools and colleges, including the one at Ollerup. There she met J.P. Kristensen-Randers whom she married in 1890. The couple acquired the school in 1894 and expanded it. Kristensen-Randers became the

matron Matron is the job title of a very senior or the chief nurse in a hospital in several countries, including the United Kingdom, and other Commonwealth countries and former colonies. Etymology The chief nurse, in other words the person in charge ...

for some 150 borders and handled the school accounts. The school became one of the most popular colleges in Denmark. In the mid-1890s, she began to suffer from

asthma Asthma is a common long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wh ...

. Nanna Kristensen-Randers died in Ollerup on 15 April 1908. She is buried in Ollerup Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kristensen-Randers, Nanna 1864 births 1908 deaths 19th-century Danish lawyers 20th-century Danish lawyers Danish schoolteachers 19th-century Danish educators 19th-century Danish women educators 20th-century Danish women lawyers 19th-century women lawyers First women lawyers