Ellen Sophie Rasmine Jørgensen (1877–1948) was a Danish historian and librarian. She is remembered internationally for her authoritative books on Danish

historiography Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians ha ...

, including ''Historieforskning og Historieskrivning i Danmark intil Aar 1800'' (1931). Her earlier doctorate thesis ''Helgendyrkelse i Danmark i Middelalderens senere Tid'' provides a detailed, well-sourced account of the church and scholarly history of Denmark and Europe in the late

middle ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. In addition to heading the Manuscript Department of the

Royal Danish Library The Royal Library ( da, Det Kongelige Bibliotek) in Copenhagen is the national library of Denmark and the university library of the University of Copenhagen. It is among the largest libraries in the world and the largest in the Nordic countries ...

, from 1924 to 1931 Jørgensen was the first woman to serve as editor of the journal '' Historisk Tidsskrift''.

Biography

Born in Copenhagen on 6 March 1877, Ellen Sophie Rasmine Jørgensen was the daughter of the carpenter Hans Christian Jørgensen (1847–82) and his wife Catherine Cecilie Marie née Quortrop (1853–1928). After her father's death when she was five, she developed a close relationship with her mother who helped her to develop her interest in history. While at

N. Zahle's School N. Zahle's School (Danish: N. Zahles Skole) is a private school located on Nørre Voldgade in Copenhagen, Denmark. Named after its founder, Natalie Zahle (1827–1913), it now consists of two independently run primary schools and a Gymnasium. Hi ...

, her teachers stimulated her interest even further. After matriculating, from 1896 she studied history at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

where she was influenced by

Kristian Erslev Kristian Sophus August Erslev (December 28, 1852 – June 20, 1930) was a Danish historian and professor. Biography Kristian Erslev was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. In 1870, Erslev graduated from Mariboes School in Copenhagen, and began studyin ...

's interest in meticulous sourcing and

Japetus Steenstrup Johannes Japetus Smith Steenstrup FRS(For) HFRSE (8 March 1813 – 20 June 1897) was a Danish zoologist, biologist, and professor. Life Born in Vang, Thy on 8 March 1813, he held a lectorate in mineralogy in Sorø until 1845 when he became a ...

's wide international experience of various fields of history. After first specializing in modern English history, she turned to Denmark in the middle ages with ''Helgendyrkelse i Danmark i middelalderens senere lid'' which earned her the university's gold medal in 1905. In 1908, with ''Fremmed Indflydelse under den danske Kirkes tidligste Udvikling'' which covered foreign influences on the early Danish church, she earned a second gold medal which allowed her to travel and visit a number of foreign libraries. This led to her extension of ''Helgendyrkelse i Danmark'' to cover the entire middle ages which she defended as her thesis for a Ph.D. As a result, in 1909 she became the second Danish woman to earn a doctorate in history, following in the footsteps of Anna Hude. As she was unable to obtain a permanent post at the university, she became a librarian at the Royal Library in 1915 where she headed the Manuscripts Department until her retirement in 1941. She published a number of historiographical works, the most important of which are ''Historieforskning og Historieskrivning i Danmark intil Aar 1800'' (1931) and ''Historiens Studium i Danmark i det 19. Aarhundrede'' (1943), still considered to be Denmark's most authoritative works in the field. Ellen Jørgensen died in Copenhagen on 14 June 1948 and was buried in the city's

Assistens Cemetery Assistens Cemetery ( da, Assistens Kirkegård) is the name of a number of cemeteries in Denmark. The common nominator is, as the first part of the name implies (Latin: ''assistens'' meaning assisting), an assisting cemetery for a town's churches. ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jorgensen, Ellen 1877 births 1948 deaths Writers from Copenhagen Danish historians Danish women historians Danish editors Danish women editors 20th-century Danish non-fiction writers 20th-century Danish women writers Recipients of Ingenio et Arti Danish librarians Women librarians