Mathilde Fibiger (13 December 1830 – 17 June 1872) was a Danish
feminist, novelist, and
telegraphist
A telegraphist (British English), telegrapher (American English), or telegraph operator is an operator who uses a telegraph key to send and receive the Morse code in order to communicate by land lines or radio.
During the Great War the Roya ...
.
Biography
Mathilde Fibiger was 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 ...
in 1830. Her father, Captain Johan Adolph Fibiger, was an army officer; her mother was Margrethe Cecilia Nielsen Aasen. Her elder sister was
Ilia Fibiger
Ilia Fibiger (5 October 1817 – 10 June 1867) was a Danish writer and playwright as well as Denmark's first professional nurse. She was the elder sister of writer and feminist Mathilde Fibiger.
Literary work
Ilia Fibiger published four volu ...
.
Literary work
Mathilde Fibiger was a novelist who championed women's rights in her first novel, "''Clara Raphael, Tolv Breve''" (Clara Raphael, Twelve Letters), published in 1851. It is a partial autobiographical story of a young woman, Clara Raphael, who works as a governess in the provinces; it is based in part on Fibiger's experiences as a private tutor on the island of
Lolland in 1849.
The novel consists largely of letters written by Clara to her friend, Mathilde; Clara's ideas about women living an independent life run counter to the beliefs of the local population, and she resolves to make women's emancipation her life objective. The book created a great deal of controversy on its publication in 1851; while the Danish literary establishment was divided between those who supported her and those who felt that her ideas were too radical, all agreed on the literary merit of her work.
Support of women's rights
Fibiger was the first public figure in Denmark to forward the
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, ...
issue. She wrote novels, articles and discussion papers since age 20 in 1851.
In counter opinions in society against women's rights, Fibiger published two pamphlets; ''Hvad er Emancipation?'' (What is Emancipation?) and ''Et Besøg'' (A Visit). Her later novels included ''En Skizze efter det virkelige Liv'' (A Sketch from Real Life, 1853) and ''Minona. En Fortaelling'' (Minona: A Tale, 1854). ''En Skizze efter det virkelige Liv'' is the story of two sisters who were orphaned at an early age, and the men with whom they develop relationships; the older sister rejects her suitor, feeling that men are weak, while the younger sister falls in love. ''Minona'' created new controversy with its complex plot involving unwed mothers and incest; Minona, the chief character, overcomes her incestuous attraction after converting to Christianity.
Work as telegraphist
While Fibiger's novels generated critical acclaim, they were not commercially successful, and she began to look for other means to support herself. She supplemented a meager allowance, received from the state, by dressmaking and translating German literary works. In 1863, she began training as a
telegraph
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...
operator for the Danish State Telegraph service, which had recently decided to hire women as operators under the management of Director
Peter Faber
Peter Faber (french: Pierre Lefevre or Favre, la, Petrus Faver) (13 April 1506 – 1 August 1546) was a Jesuit priest and theologian, who was also a co-founder of the Society of Jesus, along with Ignatius of Loyola and Francis Xavier. Pope Fra ...
. In 1866, she completed her training at the
Helsingør
Helsingør ( , ; sv, Helsingör), classically known in English as Elsinore ( ), is a city in eastern Denmark. Helsingør Municipality had a population of 62,686 on 1 January 2018. Helsingør and Helsingborg in Sweden together form the northe ...
telegraph station, and became the first woman to be employed as a telegraph operator in Denmark.
After two years in
Helsingør
Helsingør ( , ; sv, Helsingör), classically known in English as Elsinore ( ), is a city in eastern Denmark. Helsingør Municipality had a population of 62,686 on 1 January 2018. Helsingør and Helsingborg in Sweden together form the northe ...
, she was transferred to
Nysted
Nysted is a town in Guldborgsund Municipality in Region Zealand on the southeastern coast of the island of Lolland in south Denmark. Nysted is located on the southern coast of Lolland, and has a population of 1,292 (1 January 2022). in 1869 to manage a newly opened station. Not surprisingly, she encountered resistance from male operators, who saw the employment of women as operators as a threat to their livelihood. In spite of her managerial position, her pay at Nysted was scarcely sufficient to enable her to pay her expenses. The following year, she applied for a transfer to the telegraph station in
Aarhus.
She continued to experience difficulties in Aarhus, where the station manager had opposed her assignment. The problems she experienced in her telegraphic work began to affect her health; she died in Aarhus in 1872 at the age of 41. She is remembered today in Denmark not only as a pioneering feminist who wrote in support of women's rights, but also as the woman who opened the door for the employment of women in the Danish State Telegraph service.
Prizes and honors
![Mathilde Fibigers gravsten](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Mathilde_Fibigers_gravsten.JPG)
Such was her prominence as an advocate for
gender equality
Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing d ...
, in order to honour it, the ''Dansk Kvindesamfund'' (Danish Women's Society) created ''Mathildeprisen'' (The Mathilde Prize). The Mathilde Prize was established in 1970 and is awarded to both men and women in recognition of work that advances gender equality. Recipients of the prize includes
Suzanne Brøgger,
Joan-søstrene,
Kenneth Reinicke,
Anja Andersen
Anja Jul Andersen (born 15 February 1969 in Odense, Denmark) is a former Danish team handball player and current coach. She is an Olympic champion, World champion and two times European champion. In 1997, she was named IHF World Player of the Yea ...
and
Anja C. Andersen.
The street "''Mathilde Fibigers Vej''" in
Frederiksberg
Frederiksberg () is a part of the Capital Region of Denmark. It is formally an independent municipality, Frederiksberg Municipality, separate from Copenhagen Municipality, but both are a part of the City of Copenhagen. It occupies an area of ...
, Copenhagen is named after her. A small garden square adjacent to the
Women's Museum in central
Aarhus is also named "''Mathilde Fibigers Have''" in her honor.
Kvindernes Boligforening's building at
Østerbrogade
Østerbrogade is the principal shopping street and thoroughfare in the Østerbro district of Copenhagen, Denmark. It extends from Lille Triangel at the north-eastern tip of The Lakes, passes Trianglen, and continues to Svanemøllen station from ...
85 in Copenhagen is named Clara Raphaels Hus in honor of Fibiger.
Further reading
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References
Sources
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fibiger, Mathilde
1830 births
1872 deaths
Danish women's rights activists
Danish feminists
Danish suffragists
Telegraphists
People from Copenhagen
19th-century Danish women writers
19th-century Danish writers
Burials in Aarhus City Hall Park