Elisabeth Amalie Petersen born Parelius, usually known as Elisa Petersen, (1876–1932) was a Danish politician and

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

activist. She was involved in the women's movement from 1907 and served on the municipal council of

Næstved Næstved () is a town in the municipality of the same name, located in the southern part of the island of Zealand in Denmark. Næstved has several adult education centers, five elementary schools - and has at least one of each type of the four ...

from 1909. As a member 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 ...

, she contributed in particular to children's welfare, later serving as president of the organisation from 1924 to 1931. Representing the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

, from 1928 until her death in 1932 she served as an alternate in the Landsting.

Biography

Born on 3 January 1876 in

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and approximately northwest ...

, Elisabeth Amalie Petersen was the daughter of the station master Hans Ludvig Schjellerup Parelius (1853–1930) and Amalie Marie Bendixen (1843–1895). She was admitted to the

Polytechnical Institute An institute of technology (also referred to as: technological university, technical university, university of technology, technological educational institute, technical college, polytechnic university or just polytechnic) is an institution of te ...

in 1899 but broke off her studies shortly afterwards, becoming a teacher at Fru Skjold's girls' school in

. In April 1902, she married the lawyer Jacov Oluf Severin Petersen who, like herself, was also interested in politics. When women were first permitted to stand for municipal elections, in 1909 she was elected to Næstved Town Council for the Liberal Party, serving until 1921. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, she successfully oversaw emergency measures, including the establishment of public kitchens. Following the extension of women's voting rights to the

Rigsdag Rigsdagen () was the name of the national legislature of Denmark from 1849 to 1953. ''Rigsdagen'' was Denmark's first parliament, and it was incorporated in the Constitution of 1849. It was a bicameral legislature, consisting of two houses, th ...

in 1915, she became a member both of the board for the Næstved district and of the central board for Zealand and Bornholm. After becoming a founding member of the Næstved branch of the Danish Women's Society in 1907, she was elected to the organisation's central management board in 1909 and became district president for Zealand in 1916. She did much to support arrangements for children, succeeding in having contributions for single mothers extended to widows with children in 1910. As head of the children's department of the Women's Society, she called for the establishment of more nurseries and care centres for children. Petersen's interest in children led to her becoming the first woman in Denmark to be appointed to a regional school board, namely that of Tybjerg Herred, where she served from 1921 to 1929. In connection with the national elections in 1918, she encouraged women not only to vote but to stand as candidates. The results were however disappointing with only four women being elected to the

Folketing The Folketing ( da, Folketinget, ; ), also known as the Parliament of Denmark or the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral national legislature (parliament) of the Kingdom of Denmark—Denmark proper together with the Faroe Islands ...

and five to the Landsting. Unlike her colleague

Gyrithe Lemche Ellen Gyrithe Lemche née Frisch (1866–1945) was a Danish writer, women's rights campaigner and local historian. She is remembered in particular for the important part she played in the activities of the Danish Women's Society (''Dansk Kvindesa ...

, she did not support the establishment of parties consisting only of women but called for women to stand side by side with men in the existing parties. In 1924, she was elected president of the Danish Women's Society, a position she maintained until 1931. She displayed good qualities of leadership, gaining the respect of the membership in her efforts to achieve long-term objectives. On her husband's death in 1928, she moved to

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 ...

where she served in the Landsting and in the Rigsdag. She fought for more gender equity and called for implementation of the 1919 Act on Equal Pay for Women and Men in Public Serves and the 1921 Act on Equal Access to Public Posts and Employment. She also strove to obtain better conditions for housekeeping mothers, calling for the establishment of university courses in housekeeping. Despite suffering from cancer, she held her post at the Landsting until her death. She died in Copenhagen on 7 September 1932 and was buried in Næstved.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Petersen, Elisa 1876 births 1932 deaths Politicians from Aarhus Danish women's rights activists 20th-century Danish politicians Danish women in politics