Marie Kofoed, née ''Bohn'' (19 January 1760 - 20 April 1838), was a Danish businessperson, landowner and philanthropist. She was a local patriot and played an important part in the history of

Bornholm Bornholm () is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea, to the east of the rest of Denmark, south of Sweden, northeast of Germany and north of Poland. Strategically located, Bornholm has been fought over for centuries. It has usually been ruled by ...

Life

She was born to the businessman Morten Bohn (1719-1802) and Barbara Kirstine Ancher (1725-1771) in

Rønne Rønne ( sv, Rönne) is the largest town on the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea. It has a population of 13,807 (1 January 2022). It was a municipality in its own right from 1970 until 2002, when Bornholm was a county ( Danish: ''Born ...

. She married businessman Jochum Herman Ancher (1746-1786) in 1776, and the merchant and landowner Hans Peter Kofoed (1743-1812) in 1786. She belonged to the Bornholm elite by birth and both her marriages.

Career

After the death of her second spouse, she managed his affairs and estate and became a major landowner and business person. She both inherited a fortune and expanded it, and she used spent a great part of her money charity. She financed public institutions such as churches, schools and hospitals on Bornholm and Sjælland, and supported a number of individuals, notably

Johan Nicolai Madvig Johan Nicolai Madvig (; 7 August 1804 – 12 December 1886), was a Danish philologist and Kultus Minister. Life He was born on the Danish island of Bornholm, south of Sweden. He was educated at the classical school of Frederiksborg and the Un ...

, whose education she paid for, and particularly took an interest in the welfare of sailors and their families in Copenhagen.

Legacy

In her will, she bequeathed large sums to the benefit of sailors and their widows on Bornholm; the widows of officials in Copenhagen; and poor unmarried women. She was known for her social projects, and was in 1818 awarded with the title of ''etatsrådinde'', a title normally only held by women married to men with the male equivalent and not otherwise granted to women for their own merit.

References

Dansk Kvindebiografisk Leksikon
* Dansk Biografisk Leksikon {{DEFAULTSORT:Kofoed, Marie 1760 births 1838 deaths 19th-century Danish businesswomen 19th-century Danish women landowners 19th-century Danish landowners Danish philanthropists Danish women philanthropists Bornholm 19th-century philanthropists