Voldborg Ølsgaard
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Voldborg Antoinette Brøns Ølsgaard née Appelt (1877–1939) was a Danish peace activist who was also active in the
Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and approximately northwest ...
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 Peac ...
. A member of the peace movement
Danske Kvinders Fredskæde Danske Kvinders Fredskæde (Danish Women's Peace Chain) is the original name of the Danish branch of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. It was founded in 1915 following the International Congress of Women held in The Hague. Th ...
, she headed its third Jutland district (1922–25) and edited the organization's paper ''Fred og Frihed'' (Peace and Freedom) until 1937. Ølsgaard was behind the construction of Dansk Kvindesamfunds Hus (Danish Women's Society House) completed in 1930. She was responsible for its management until her retirement as a result of illness in 1935.


Early life and family

Born in Ommestrup, Djursland, on 13 October 1877, Voldborg Antoinette Brøns Appelt was the daughter of the high school principal Marius Nicolaj Appelt (1841–1907) and his wife Petra Jakobine Louise née Brøns (1847–1926). She was educated at her father's Mørke Højskole. In November 1901, she married the sculptor (1983–1964).


Career

Devoted to the cause of peace, the couple created a home they called "Pax" in Aarhus where Elias had received a commission to decorate the State Library. Voldborg Ølsgaard was an early member of Danske Kvinders Fredskæde which was founded after the 1915 Women's Peace Conference in the Hague. In 1925, the Danish organization changed its name to Kvindernes Internationale Liga for Fred og Frihed in line with the name of the international organization Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. Ølsgaard headed the peace movement's third Jutland district from 1922 to 1029, lecturing, promoting activities and attracting affiliations in a number of towns in the area. In particular, she edited the organization's paper ''Fred og Frihed'' from its beginnings as a four-page sheet in 1924 to its expanded version with 4,000 subscribers, retiring for poor health at the end of 1937. She was also active in the Women's Movement and served on the board of the organization's Aarhus branch. She was particularly successful in arranging for the construction of a building to house the organization's Aarhus activities. Known as the Dansk Kvindesamfunds Hus, it was completed in 1930 and she continued to manage it until she had to retire for health reasons in 1935. Voldborg Antoinette Brøns Ølsgaard died in Aarhus on 1 October 1939 and was buried in the churchyard at
Mørke Mørke is a town located in East Jutland, on the southwestern part of the Djursland peninsula, Denmark. It is a commuter town of the city of Aarhus, which lies approximately 26 kilometers to the southwest, and a railway town at Grenaabanen, th ...
. Her husband designed her gravestone.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olsgaard, Voldborg 1877 births 1939 deaths Danish anti-war activists Pacifist feminists Danish women's rights activists Danish magazine editors Danish women editors