Louise Keilhau (1860–1927) was a Norwegian teacher and peace activist. She founded the ''Norwegian Committee for Permanent Peace'' and she was a founding member of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF).

Life

International Congress of Women1915 (22785230005)

Keilhau realised that war was coming in the early part of the twentieth century and she traveled internationally to make ready. She was a leading member of the

Norwegian Red Cross The Norwegian Red Cross (''Norges Røde Kors'') was founded on 22 September 1865 by prime minister Frederik Stang. In 1895 the Norwegian Red Cross began educating nurses, and in 1907 the Norwegian Ministry of Defence authorized the organization fo ...

. Keilhau was credited with inspiring the Norwegian

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

to take an active role to relieve suffering 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 was the only woman on the Red Cross's executive board and, with the support of other women, encouraged the Norwegian Red Cross to look up from its domestic problems. In 1915 she was chosen as the Norwegian delegate to a peace conference in the Hague. Delegates were called from around the world although many had difficulties attending because the peace efforts were "only" of women and hostilities made travel difficult. At the conference, she proposed resolution 28 that "We women, in International Congress assembled, protest against the madness and horror of war, involving as it does a reckless sacrifice of human life and the destruction of so much that humanity has laboured through centuries to build up." She founded the ''Norwegian Committee for Permanent Peace'' and she was a founding member of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF).

Personal life

She was the mother of economist and historian

Wilhelm Keilhau Wilhelm Christian Ottesen Keilhau (30 July 1888 – 9 June 1954) was a Norwegian historian and economist. Personal life Keilhau was born in Oslo, Kristiania on 30 July 1888, to Harald Keilhau and Louise Keilhau, Louise Ottesen. He was marrie ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keilhau, Louise 1860 births 1927 deaths Red Cross ambassadors Norwegian educators Norwegian pacifists