Inger Merete Nordentoft (16 August 1903, Thisted — 22 October 1960, Copenhagen) was a Danish educator, Communist politician and resistance worker. She is remembered for requesting

maternity leave Parental leave, or family leave, is an employee benefit available in almost all countries. The term "parental leave" may include maternity, Paternity (law), paternity, and adoption leave; or may be used distinctively from "maternity leave" and ...

from her post as headmistress of Katrinedals Skole in Copenhagen although she had not married the father and refused to reveal his identity. There was an attempt to force her to leave her post but as a result of support from the majority of her students' parents, she was able to take maternity leave and maintain her post as head.

Early life, education and family

Born in Thisted on 18 August 1903, Inger Merete Nordentoft was the daughter of the physician Poul Nordentoft (1874–1937) and his wife Astrid Kabeli (1880–1953), a midwife. She was one of the family's three children. When she was nine, her parents divorced and she chose to live with her father who moved to

Svendborg Svendborg () is a town on the island of Funen in south-central Denmark, and the seat of Svendborg Municipality. With a population of 27,300 (1 January 2022), Svendborg is Funen's second largest city.real examination. In Svendborg, she met Elisabeth Flagstad who headed the Danish Girl Guides (Det Danske Pigespejderkorps) and became an enthusiastic member. In 2020, Nordentoft went to live with her mother in

Tønder Tønder (; german: Tondern ) is a town in the Region of Southern Denmark. With a population of 7,505 (as of 1 January 2022), it is the main town and the administrative seat of the Tønder Municipality. History The first mention of Tønder might ...

where she attended the teachers' training college for three years and graduated as a teacher.

Career

In 1923, Nordentoft first spent a year at the forestry school in Korinth on the island of

Funen Funen ( da, Fyn, ), with an area of , is the third-largest island of Denmark, after Zealand and Vendsyssel-Thy. It is the 165th-largest island in the world. It is located in the central part of the country and has a population of 469,947 as of ...

before moving to Valby School in Copenhagen where she taught from 1924. In the mid-1930s, she joined the

Social Democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...

and served on Copenhagen's School Board (Københavns Kommunelærerindeforening) until 1945. She was also active in other teachers' associations and in 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 ...

. During the

German occupation of Denmark At the outset of World War II in September 1939, Denmark declared itself neutral. For most of the war, the country was a protectorate and then an occupied territory of Germany. The decision to occupy Denmark was taken in Berlin on 17 December ...

, Nordentoft was active in the resistance movement. As a member of Frit Danmark, she helped Danish Jews escape to Sweden. For allowing the telegrapher from

Aksel Larsen Aksel Larsen (5 August 1897 – 10 January 1972) was a Danish politician who was chairman of the Communist Party of Denmark (DKP) and chairman and founder of the Socialist People's Party. He is remembered today for his long service in the C ...

's network to live in her home, she was imprisoned for nine months from March 1943. After the war, in February 1945 she was appointed head of the Katrinedal School in the

Vanløse Vanløse is one of the 10 official districts of Copenhagen, Denmark. It lies on the western border of the municipality. Vanløse covers an area of 6.69 km², and has a population of 36,115, making Vanløse the smallest district of Copenhagen ...

district of Copenhagen. In addition, in October 1945 she was 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 ...

representing the Communist Party in the Valby constiuency. She gained wide respect for her political views as well as for chairing Danmarks Demokratiske Kvindeforbund, Denmark's chapter of the

Women's International Democratic Federation Women's International Democratic Federation (WIDF) is an international organization with the stated goal of working for women's rights. It was established in 1945 and was most active during the Cold War. It initially focussed on anti-fascism, worl ...

. Later in 1945, she first adopted a child and then announced in a closed teachers meeting that she was pregnant and was applying for maternity leave. As she was unmarried and would not reveal the name of her partner, the school board sought to fire her. But as a result of strong support from the parents of her students, she was maintained in her position. She later summarized her stand as "It is the right of every adult to live his life in accordance with his convictions". Nordentoft was also a writer. In 1944, she published ''Opdragelse til Demokrati'' (Education for Democracy) which set out her plans for reforms after the end of the war. In particular, she called for more cooperation between teachers and students. She also wrote a number of textbooks and was editor of the series ''Børnenes Læsning og Klassens Bibliotek'' (Children's Reading and the Class Library). Inger Merete Nordentoft died in Copenhagen of cancer on 22 October 1960, aged only 57.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nordentoft, Inger Merete 1903 births 1960 deaths 20th-century Danish women educators 20th-century Danish educators People from Thisted Danish headmistresses Danish resistance members Communist Party of Denmark politicians