Astrid Stampe Feddersen, usually known as Astrid Stampe, (1852–1930) was a Danish women's rights activist and author alongside her sister

Rigmor Stampe Bendix Rigmor Stampe Bendix (1850–1923) was a Danish baroness, writer and philanthropist. In 1898, she became editor of ''Kvindernes Blad'' (Women's Paper), a supplement to various daily newspapers, developing it as an organ for the women's movement. Sh ...

. Stampe joined the

women's movement The feminist movement (also known as the women's movement, or feminism) refers to a series of social movements and political campaigns for radical and liberal reforms on women's issues created by the inequality between men and women. Such iss ...

early on and from 1883 to 1887, she was on the board of the

Danish Women's Society The Danish Women's Society or DWS ( da, Dansk Kvindesamfund) 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 Peac ...

, playing an active part in work on women's issues. As an activist, Stampe authored several pamphlets in support of her cause, including: ''Kvindesagen'' (1886) and ''Kan Kvindesagen og Sædelighedssagen skilles ad?'' (1888).

Biography

Born on 19 December 1852 at

Christinelund Christinelund, originally a farm under Nysø Manor, is located a few kilometres east of central Præstø, on the island of Zealand's Jungshoved peninsula, in Vordingborg Municipality in southeastern Denmark. It takes its name from the Salon (gathe ...

near

Vordingborg Vordingborg () is an old ferry town in Vordingborg Municipality in Denmark with around 18,000 inhabitants. Because of three large estates surrounding the town, a coherent urban development has not been possible, which is the reason why three sat ...

, Stampe was of noble ancestry. She was the daughter of Henrik Stampe (1821–1892), a

Chamberlain Chamberlain may refer to: Profession *Chamberlain (office), the officer in charge of managing the household of a sovereign or other noble figure People *Chamberlain (surname) **Houston Stewart Chamberlain (1855–1927), German-British philosop ...

and

Hofjægermester Hofjægermester (hunting master of the court) is an honorary court title awarded to a limited number of (major and usually noble) land owners (''godsejere'') by the Danish monarch. The title was introduced in Denmark-Norway during the period of ab ...

. Because of her father's rank, she was born with the title of

baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...

ess. Other family member of note include her grandmother, Christine Stampe, and her great grandfather, Jonas Collin, who was

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fairy tales, consisti ...

’s fatherly benefactor. Stampe's personal tutors, her upbringing in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, and her educational travels gave her a cultured background. She learned Swedish, French and English though as a result of the

Schleswig wars The Duchy of Schleswig ( da, Hertugdømmet Slesvig; german: Herzogtum Schleswig; nds, Hartogdom Sleswig; frr, Härtochduum Slaswik) was a duchy in Southern Jutland () covering the area between about 60 km (35 miles) north and 70 km ( ...

, she did not learn German. In 1881, she married Gustav Hakon Valdemar Feddersen (1848–1912). In the course of his career, Gustav was an assistant to the Ministry of the Interior, an Amtman in Ringkjøbing, and later for the Diocese of Lolland-Falster. The couple had four children: Hakon (born 1883), Jonna (1884), Gudrun (1887), and Ingrid Kristine (1888). Stampe took part in the fight against prostitution and fought for greater equality between men and women, including unmarried women. Her husband supported her feminist interests and her membership of the Copenhagen chapter of the

, beginning in 1882. She successfully sought to reinforce the association's position and extend its influence to the provinces. In April of 1883, she became a member of the board of the Women's Society a position which she held until 1887, though she was re-elected to the board in 1903. She was chairman of the society from 1913 until 1918. In this position, she chaired the first Nordic meeting on women's rights in Copenhagen in 1914. Stampe wrote an article in ''Højskolebladet'' which called for the founding of a Danish society for "friends of Iceland," much like the already existing German society ''Islandsfreunde''. In 1916, her proposed society became the Danish-Icelandic Society (Danish: ''Dansk-Islandsk Samfund''). Stampe was awarded the Gold

Medal of Merit Several countries award a military or civil medal called Medal of Merit: * Medal of Merit (Czech Republic) * Medal of Merit (Denmark) * Medal of Merit of the Dominican Woman * Medal of Merit of the National People's Army (East Germany) * Medal of M ...

on her 70th birthday in 1922. She died on 16 April 1930 in Copenhagen. She was buried at Jungshoved Cemetery, though her grave is no longer there.

Bibliography

* ''Kvindesagen'', 1886 * ''Kan Kvindesagen og Sædelighedssagen skilles ad?'', 1888 *''Om Kvindesagen: Et Foredrag'', 1907 *''Frue og Frøken'', 1911 *''Vort Modersmaal'', 1912 *''Dansk Navneskik'', 1914

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Feddersen, Astrid Stampe 1852 births 1930 deaths Danish women's rights activists Danish feminists 19th-century Danish people People from Vordingborg Municipality Danish baronesses 19th-century Danish women writers Recipients of the Medal of Merit (Denmark)