Theodora (Thora) Frederikke Marie Daugaard (22 October 1874 – 28 June 1951) was a Danish
women's rights activist, pacifist, editor and translator. In 1915, she attended the
International Women's Conference in
The Hague, together with
Clara Tybjerg
Clara Sophie Tybjerg née Sarauw (1864–1941) was a Danish women's rights activist, pacifist and educator. In 1915, she attended the International Women's Conference in The Hague, together with Thora Daugaard. Thereafter she helped establish and ...
. Thereafter she established and later headed the
Danske Kvinders Fredskæde or Danish Women's Peace Chain which became the Danish branch of the
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. She is also remembered for organizing assistance for Jews and their children in Nazi-occupied Denmark during the
Second World War.
Biography
Born on 22 October 1874 in Store Arden near
Hobro, Jutland, Theodora Frederikke Marie Daugaard was the daughter of the hotel keeper Peder Johannes Jensen (1841–1903) and Petrine Daugaard (1848–1925). After receiving an education as a translator in 1903, she was employed by the
Danish Women's Society as editorial secretary for their journal ''Kvinden og Samfundet'' and as business manager of their new office. Working together with
Esther Carstensen
Ester Henriette Carstensen née Hansen (10 August 1873–12 December 1955) was a Danish women's rights activist and journal editor. She was one of the most active members of the Danish Women's Society (''Dansk kvindesamfund''), editing its journal ...
,
Gyrithe Lemche and
Astrid Stampe Feddersen, she joined the organization's electoral committee, becoming its international secretary until 1915 when Danish women won the right to vote.
[
Thereafter, she devoted her efforts principally to the peace movement,][ attending the 1915 International Women's Conference in the Hague where she announced: "We want war no longer. We no longer want it explained that we women are protected by war. No, we are raped by war!". The following year, she established the Danish Women's Peace Chain.] From 1920 to 1941, she became the association's president, raising membership to 15,000.[
]
In 1918, based on her experiences abroad, she initiated the construction of a home for single, self-employed women with almost 150 apartments, a restaurant and a laundry. When it was completed in 1920 as Clara Raphaels Hus on Copenhagen's Østerbro, Daugaard moved in herself. The following year, she was engaged as editor of a new weekly magazine ''Tidens Kvinder'' which until 1923 was published by Danske Kvinders Nationalråd. She also edited the magazine published by Kvindernes Internationale Liga for Fred og Frihed, the new name of Danske Kvinders Fredskæde.[ From 1930 to 1932, she edited ''Vore Damer'' which was similar to ''Tidens Kvinder''.][
Invited by the American social worker Jane Addams who was president of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, she made a lecture tour of the United States from 1927 to 1929. In 1934, Daugaard represented the WILPF at the League of Nations, becoming the League's international treasurer from 1938 to 1946.][
In 1938 to 1939, together with Mélanie Oppenhejm and Kirsten Gloerfelt-Tarp, she was active in saving Jewish children from the Nazi countries, succeeding in having 320 sent to Denmark.][ During the Nazi occupation of Denmark, most of them were sent to Sweden. Her involvement with the Jews forced her into fleeing to Sweden herself in 1943.][
Thora Daugaard died on 28 June 1951 in Holstebro and was buried at ]Mariager Abbey
Mariager Abbey ( da, Mariagerkloster) was a Bridgettine abbey founded in 1430 which became an important pilgrimage site, in the present town of Mariager in northern central Jutland, Denmark.
History
Foundation
Mariager Abbey was founded in 1430 ...
.
See also
* List of peace activists
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Daugaard, Thora
1874 births
1951 deaths
Danish feminists
Danish suffragists
Danish pacifists
Pacifist feminists
Danish editors
Danish women editors
20th-century Danish women writers
People from Mariagerfjord Municipality
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom people