The Norwegian Women's Public Health Association (''Norske Kvinners Sanitetsforening'') or NKS is the largest women's organisation and one of the leading

humanitarian Humanitarianism is an ideology centered on the value of human life, whereby humans practice benevolent treatment and provide assistance to other humans to reduce suffering and improve the conditions of humanity for moral, altruistic, and emotiona ...

organisations of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. It is open to women and men and was founded on the initiative of the

Norwegian Association for Women's Rights The Norwegian Association for Women's Rights (; NKF) is Norway's oldest and preeminent women's rights, women's and girls' rights organization that works "to promote gender equality and all women's and girls' human rights through political reform, ...

in 1896. The organization's main areas of focus are women's health and living conditions. It is involved in humanitarian work, such as running

hospital A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized Medical Science, health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically ...

s and

nursing home A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of older people, senior citizens, or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as care homes, skilled nursing facilities (SNF), or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms ...

s. The association currently has 750 local branches and ca. 50,000 members, although at one point, it had 250,000 members. NKS is a member of the

Norwegian Women's Lobby The Norwegian Women's Lobby (NWL; ) is a feminist policy and advocacy organization in Norway and works for "the human rights of girls and women in all their diversity, to eliminate all forms of discrimination against all girls and women and to pro ...

umbrella organization.

History

NKS was founded in 1896 following initiatives by

Fredrikke Marie Qvam Fredrikke Marie Qvam (née Gram) (31 May 184310 September 1938) was a Norwegian humanitarian leader, feminist, liberal politician and the wife of Prime Minister Ole Anton Qvam. She was the founder (1896) of the Norwegian Women's Public Health A ...

Randi Blehr Randi Marie Blehr (née Nilsen; 12 February 1851 – 13 June 1928) was a Norwegian feminist, liberal politician, suffragist, peace activist and women's rights activist. She was married to Prime Minister of Norway Otto Blehr, and was therefore ...

Cecilie Thoresen Krog Ida Cecilie Thoresen Krog (née Thoresen; 7 March 1858 – 13 November 1911) was a Norwegian women's rights pioneer and Liberal Party politician, and the first female university student in Norway. She became famous when she was allowed to submit ...

and

Margrethe Vullum Margrethe Vullum (born Lehmann; first married name Rode; 14 February 1846 – 14 August 1918) was a Danish-born Norwegian journalist, literary critic and proponent for women's rights. Personal life She was born in Copenhagen, a daughter of state ...

. It was established on the initiative of the

. In 1898, NKS opened a school for the education of nurses with military service. In 1899, the fight against

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

was initiated. One of the early members was principal was Pylle Horst, wife of

Hans Jacob Horst Hans Jacob Horst (7 November 1848 – 17 March 1931) was a Norwegian politician for the Liberal Party. He graduated with a master's degree in liberal arts in 1874, becoming a teacher and later principal. He became active in the Liberal Union and t ...

, one of the founders of a liberal newspaper, ''Nordposten''. The major figure in the organisation's early history was

, its principal founder and chairman from 1896 to 1933. The wife of Prime Minister

Ole Anton Qvam Ole Anton Qvam (5 August 1834 – 8 July 1904) was a Norwegian lawyer and Liberal politician, who was the Norwegian minister of Justice 1891–1893, 1898–1899 and 1900–1902, minister of the Interior 1899–1900, as well as head of the minis ...

, she was also a former chairman of the

Constance Wiel Schram Constance Wiel Schram (née Nygaard; 27 September 1890, Oslo, Christiania – 18 September 1955, Oslo) was a Norwegian writer and translator. She was the daughter of William Martin Nygaard (1865–1912) and Constance Wiel (1866–1931). Constance ...

, ''Norske kvinners sanitetsforening: tiden og menneskene som skapte den; vekst og virke i femti år; 1896-1946'', 1946

References

External links

Norske Kvinners Sanitetsforening website
Medical and health organisations based in Norway Women's organisations based in Norway 1896 establishments in Norway {{norway-org-stub

History

References

Related reading

External links