Karen Emilie Johnsen (1899–1980) was an early female Danish lawyer and judge. In 1949, she became the second woman in Denmark to serve as a high court judge, following in the footsteps of

Ragnhild Fabricius Gjellerup Ragnhild Louise Kathrine Dorothea Lindegaard Smidt Fabricius Gjellerup (1896–1958) was a Danish lawyer who graduated in 1922 from the University of Copenhagen. In 1934, she became the first woman in Denmark to serve as a judge. Biography Born on ...

. She was particularly active in dealing with property cases resulting from the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Johnsen also supported women's interests, serving 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 ...

for almost 20 years. In 1952, she represented Denmark at the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

conference in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

Biography

Born 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 ...

on 9 September 1899, Karen Emilie Johnsen was the daughter of the lawyer George Johnsen (1871–1935) and Emilie Vilhelmine Marie Grønqvist (1871–1937). After matriculating from

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 ...

in 1918, encouraged by her father, she studied law 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 ...

, graduating in 1924. For her thesis on family law, she became the first woman ever to be awarded the university's gold medal. In view of the limited opportunities for women lawyers at the time, Johnsen began her career with an unpaid job at the

Diocese of Copenhagen The Diocese of Copenhagen (Danish: ''Københavns Stift'') is a diocese within the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Denmark. The Bishop of Copenhagen is currently Peter Skov-Jakobsen, who replaced Erik Normann Svendsen in 2009. The main cathedral of ...

. After helping her father for a short period, in 1925 she was employed as a secretary in Copenhagen's municipal court. She was promoted to the rank of proxy judge in 1935 and to municipal judge in 1939, the first women to reach the position. From 1949 until her retirement in 1966, she was a judge for the Østre Landsret, one of Denmark's two high courts. She was involved in a number of large post-war cases, some of which ended in the death penalty, which she accepted against her will as a necessity of the times. She was also active in advancing equal legal treatment of children, whether born in or out of matrimony. She also achieved more equitable treatment of prostitutes, bringing cases under social rather than penal legislation. Johnsen was also active in the women's movement, becoming a board member of the Danish Women's Society (1930–49) and of ''Kvindelige Akademikere'' (Female Academics), a society for university women (1938–48). Given her interest in education, in 1953, she represented Denmark at the UNESCO conference in Paris. After she retired in 1966, she left her legal interests behind, spending the rest of her life with her childhood friend and long-standing companion Zenia Kühn (1898–1985). Together they were engaged in travelling, reading and visiting art exhibitions. Karen Johnsen died in Virum, just north of Copenhagen, on 17 November 1980.

Awards

In 1951, Johnsen was one of the first women to be honoured with the

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog ( da, Dannebrogordenen) is a Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single class known a ...

. In 1954, she became a First Class Knight, in 1966 a Commander.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnsen, Karen 1899 births 1980 deaths People from Copenhagen 20th-century Danish lawyers Danish women lawyers Danish judges Women judges Danish feminists University of Copenhagen alumni Knights of the Order of the Dannebrog Knights First Class of the Order of the Dannebrog Commanders of the Order of the Dannebrog People from Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality 20th-century women lawyers