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 and politician. In 1893, she became the first woman to graduate in
political science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...
from the
University of Copenhagen
The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public research university in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia after Uppsala Unive ...
. She co-founded Denmark's Political Women's Association (Politisk Kvindeforening) in 1904, later chairing it when it became the Copenhagen Women's Suffrage Association (Københavns Kvindevalgretsforening). From 1907, she served as secretary of the National Association for Women's Suffrage, writing articles in the organization's magazine ''Kvindevalgret''. Hansen was also a board member 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 ...
from 1906 to 1924. Representing the
Danish Social Liberal Party
The Danish Social Liberal Party ( da, Radikale Venstre, , Radical Left) is a social-liberal political party in Denmark. The party was founded as a split from the Venstre Reform Party in 1905.
Historically, the centrist party has played a cent ...
, she was a candidate for Frederiksberg's Municipal Council in 1917 but was not elected.
Biography
Born on 22 December 1865 in Asminderød near
Fredensborg
Fredensborg () is a railway town located in Fredensborg Municipality, North Zealand, some 30 kilometres north of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is most known for Fredensborg Palace, one of the official residences of the Danish Royal Family. As of 1 Janu ...
, Meta Kristine Hansen was the daughter of the farmer Hans Hansen (1815–1885) and his wife Ida Kristine Jensine Vilhelmine née Nørgaard (1832–1889), a mid-wife. Brought up in a non-academic environment, she followed a normal education until she attended
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 Copenhagen where she decided to study political science at the university. As a result, she became the first woman to graduate in political science i 1893. It was not until 1900 that another woman, Anna Marie Sveistrup, graduated in the same subject.
Despite her qualification, she was employed simply as an assistant in the Danish Statistics Bureau, unable to attain the status of an official civil servant (''embedsmand'') until the rules were changed in 1921. In the meantime, 13 of her male colleagues were promoted above her before she became an embedsmand herself, after a delay of 20 years.
Hansen was highly active in the fight for women's voting rights. She was a board member of Politisk Kvindeforening (Political Women's Association) from its establishment in 1904. After it became Københavns Kvindevalgretsforening, she chaired the organization from 1907 to 1915. From 1905, she was a board member of Danske Kvinders Nationalråd until women obtained the vote in 1915. She then became a member of the Danish Social Liberal Party, which she represented in 1917 as a candidate for Frederiksberg's Municipal Council but was not elected.
Meta Hansen died in