Mary Bess Westenholz, pen name Bertel Wrads, (13 August 1857 – 8 May 1947) was an influential Danish
Unitarian,
women's rights
Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...
activist, writer and editor. She was the aunt of the author
Karen Blixen
Baroness Karen Christenze von Blixen-Finecke (born Dinesen; 17 April 1885 – 7 September 1962) was a Danish author who wrote works in Danish and English. She is also known under her pen names Isak Dinesen, used in English-speaking countrie ...
, and is remembered for encouraging her niece to publish her first short stories.
Early life
Born on 13 August 1857 at Mattrup, to the west of
Horsens
Horsens () is a city on the east coast of Jutland region of Denmark. It is the seat of the Horsens municipality. The city's population is 61,074 (1 January 2022) and the municipality's population is 94,443 (), making it the 8th largest city in De ...
, Mary Bess Westenholz was the daughter of the estate owner and politician Regner Westenholz (1815–1866) and Mary Lucinde Hansen (1832–1915). Her maternal grandfather was the wealthy merchant and
ship-owner
A ship-owner is the owner of a merchant vessel (commercial ship) and is involved in the shipping industry. In the commercial sense of the term, a shipowner is someone who equips and exploits a ship, usually for delivering cargo at a certain freig ...
Andreas Nicolai Hansen
Andreas Nicolai Hansen (14 September 1798 – 12 December 1873) was a Danish businessman and landowner. His former town mansion in Copenhagen was listed on the Danish registry of protected buildings and places in 1939.
Early life and career
Ha ...
. After her father died when she was eight years old, her mother took care of the estate and the family. Together with her siblings, she was educated on the estate, spent a year in a finishing school in Switzerland in 1888, and also went on educational trips to Britain and Italy.
Unitarian involvement
Thanks to her mother, Westenholz became interested in religion and women's rights. She was an active member of the Copenhagen branch 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 Pea ...
. In 1895, using the pen name Bertel Wrads, she published the essay collection ''Fra mit Pulterkammer'' (English: ''From My Loft''), discussing marriage, women's rights and national affairs.
[
While still a young women, her mother introduced her to the unitarian movement. In 1900, she co-founded the unitarian '' Det fri Kirkesamfund'' (The Free Church Society), which she headed until 1925. She commented on her involvement in ''Højskolebladet'' (Folk School Paper) and ''Frit Vidnesbyrd'' (Free Testimony) as well as in newspaper articles. Above all, however, she wrote in ''Protestanisk Tidende'' (Protestant Times) which she edited from 1905 to 1918. As a result of her Unitarian interests, she soon faced opposition from the established ]Lutheran Church of Denmark
The Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Denmark or National Church, sometimes called the Church of Denmark ( da, Folkekirken, literally: "The People's Church" or unofficially da, Den danske folkekirke, literally: "The Danish People's Church"; kl, ...
.[
By participating at meetings of the International Congress of Free Christians and other Religious Liberals in London, Amsterdam and Berlin, she was able to associate Danish Unitarianism with similar movements in Europe and the United States. But as her beliefs did not include basic aspects of the doctrine of the Lutheran Church of Denmark such as the ]Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...
and the Atonement of Jesus Christ, the church council of her native Hørsholm
Hørsholm () is an urban area on the Øresund coast approximately north of Copenhagen, Denmark. It covers most of Hørsholm Municipality and straddles the borders neighbouring Fredensborg Municipality and Rudersdal Municipality.
Hørsholm prope ...
insisted she should pay church taxes like everyone else. When she refused, in June 1908 the case ended with a Supreme Court ruling, backed by the country's bishops, explaining that as there were basic contradictions between the Unitarian Church and the National Church of Denmark, Westenholz was required to pay taxes and ceased to be a member of the National Church.
Folketing incident
Like her brother Aage, Westenholz was deeply interested in defence matters. Partly as a result of delays in parliamentary progress on a defence bill and partly in connection with the Alberti scandal
Peter Adler Alberti (10 June 1851, in Copenhagen – 14 June 1932, in Copenhagen) was a Danish politician and swindler, known for the Alberti scandal of 1908.
Family life
On 6 October 1876 in the Church of Holmen the 25-year-old barrister (ove ...
, on 19 August 1909, unnoticed she gained access 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 ...
where the speaker had just announced the appointment of Jens Christian Christensen
Jens Christian Christensen (21 November 1856 – 19 December 1930), most often called J. C. Christensen with the 'J' pronounced as an 'I', was a Danish politician.
Biography
Christensen was born into a West Jutland peasant family and startin ...
as the minister responsible for defence. She snatched the speaker's bell, rang it vigorously and, pointing at the ministers' benches, declared: "Before you begin your work, you should know that in this chamber there is a man who has brought disgrace to Denmark. Here you sit, you Danish men, haggling about the country's rights and wrongs in your lust for power and self-indulgence, but it needs to be said from this rostrum that Denmark's women despise you and brand you as a bunch of unpatriotic hirelings who betray the honour of Denmark." This was the first time any woman had spoken in the Folketing.[
She had expected to be arrested but was simply escorted out of the chamber. With the assistance of the '']Danske Kvinders Forsvarsforening
The Danske Kvinders Forsvarsforening (DKF), or Danish Women's Defence Association, was a Danish women's organization established in 1907 to improve the readiness of the Danish armed forces as tensions increased across Europe. With a membership of ...
'' (Danish Women's Defence Association), a demonstration of support was organized outside her home.[
]
Later life
Westerholz also played a significant part in encouraging her niece, Karen Blixen, to become a writer. Thanks to her friendship Dorothy Canfield Fisher
Dorothy Canfield Fisher (February 17, 1879 – November 9, 1958) was an educational reformer, social activist, and best-selling American author in the early 20th century. She strongly supported women's rights, racial equality, and lifelong educat ...
, an American writer and member of the Book of the Month Club
Book of the Month (founded 1926) is a United States subscription-based e-commerce service that offers a selection of five to seven new hardcover books each month to its members. Books are selected and endorsed by a panel of judges, and members c ...
's selection committee, she was able to arrange for publication of Blixen's ''Seven Gothic Tales
''Seven Gothic Tales'' (translated by the author into Danish as: ''Syv Fantastiske Fortællinger'') is a collection of short stories by the Danish author Karen Blixen (under the pen name Isak Dinesen), first published in 1934, three years before ...
'' in 1934.[ Mary Westenholz died in Hørsholm on 8 May 1947.][ She is buried in Hørshom Cemetery.]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Westenholz, Mary
1857 births
1947 deaths
People from Horsens Municipality
People from Hørsholm Municipality
Danish women's rights activists
19th-century Danish writers
19th-century Danish women writers
Danish Unitarians
Grut Hansen family