Gina Krog
Gina Krog | |
---|---|
Feminist pioneer | |
Political party | Liberal Party |
Movement | Women's suffrage |
Relatives |
|
Jørgine Anna Sverdrup "Gina" Krog (20 June 1847 – 14 April 1916) was a Norwegian
She played a central role in the Norwegian liberal
Krog was regarded as an unapologetic liberal progressive during her time, seeking full and equal voting rights for all women on the same conditions as men. In the 19th century these views brought Krog into conflict with more moderate members of the Norwegian women's movement, many of whom argued for narrower approaches, focusing first on enfranchising privileged women; before 1900 only men of certain means and position had the right to vote as well. In 1910, the Storting granted universal voting rights to women for municipal elections, extending this to general elections in 1913.
Krog was the first woman in Norway to receive a state funeral. Since 2009, the Norwegian Association for Women's Rights has awarded the biennial Gina Krog Prize for feminist advocates.
Early life
Jørgine Anna Sverdrup "Gina" Krog was born on 20 June 1847 in Flakstad, Lofoten as the daughter of parish priest Jørgen Sverdrup Krog (1805–1847) and Ingeborg Anna Dass Brinchmann (1814–1872).[1] Gina Krog's brother was barrister Fredrik Arentz Krog.[2] After her father's early death, Krog lived with her mother in Karmøy until she was eight years old, and then moved to Christiania. In Christiania, she attended a school for girls.
As a young adult, she worked as a teacher in private schools for several years, continuing to improve her knowledge of languages and literature through self-study. Through her brother, she became the aunt of writer Helge Krog and the sister-in-law of feminist Cecilie Thoresen Krog.[1] Krog was among the first women to go hiking in the mountains of Jotunheimen, which gave her a reputation as a "mountaineer".[1] She never married.[3]
Suffrage work
In 1880, Krog gave up her teaching career permanently in order to advocate for women's rights.
Upon returning to Norway, in 1883 Krog became a founding member of the first Norwegian women's business club. The following year, she was one of the first Norwegian women to engage in a public debate, tackling women's rights in a three-day debate organized by students.
In 1884, Krog wrote a series of articles for the magazine Nyt Tidsskrift, entitled "Some Words on the Development of Women's Affairs and Nearest Tasks in Our Country", urging women to take on more leadership roles in support of women's rights.[1][2] The following year, when Krog gave a talk entitled "Voting for Women", Berner resigned as chairman in protest.[1] Despite her disagreements about the association's direction, Krog edited its periodical Nylænde (New Land) from its start in 1887 until her death in 1916.[8]
In December 1885, Krog co-founded the
Despite the Women's Voting Association's efforts, however, their initial suffrage proposals were unsuccessful. In 1886, the association submitted the first Norwegian proposal for women's suffrage to the Storting (the Norwegian Parliament),[9] but the proposal was rejected by lawmakers in 1890,[11] defeated by 114 to 44 votes.[10] In response, Women's Voting Association members decided to adjust their goals and fight only for local municipal voting rights instead—an idea proposed by Berner. Krog refused to agree to this strategy.[11] In 1893, a new women's suffrage proposal was submitted to the Storting, and although it received support from more than 50 percent of parliament members, it did not reach the necessary two-thirds support it needed to create constitutional change.[10] Women's suffrage in Norway had formerly benefited from strong support from the Liberal Party. During the 1890s, however, many liberal politicians had withdrawn from the cause, expressing fears that women with the vote would naturally gravitate towards supporting conservative candidates.[12] The women's movement claimed a number of smaller victories during this time: women were permitted to become members of school and child welfare boards and received the right to vote in local alcohol prohibition referendums.[5]
In 1896, Norwegian lawmakers granted voting rights to all taxpaying men, but again refused to grant voting rights to women.[12] Two years later, men received universal suffrage.[5]
Disagreements within the Women's Voting Association meant that the association began splitting into two factions. All members were middle-class women, and this affected the association's views on whether or not the vote should be granted to women of all classes. Although some, including Krog, continued to argue for universal women's suffrage, the majority wanted to pursue partial, property-based suffrage instead. Krog remained firm in her belief that women must fight for complete voting rights "on the same conditions as men", regardless of class.[12] In 1897, Krog left the Women's Voting Association and subsequently established the Norwegian National Association for Women's Suffrage (Norwegian: Landskvinnestemmerettsforeningen) alongside women's rights activist Fredrikke Marie Qvam.[11][3]
In 1899, Krog attended a Congress meeting of the International Council of Women in London, England, where she was named an honorary vice-president of the council, representing Norway.[13] Krog accepted responsibility for creating a Norwegian branch of the International Council of Women, and began making plans.[13] After much petitioning, the Norwegian government granted limited voting rights to women in 1901. Norwegian women who owned property – or whose husbands owned property – could now vote in municipal elections.[7] The National Association for Women's Suffrage was admitted as a member of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance in 1904.[1]
In 1904, Krog founded the Norwegian National Women's Council (Norwegian: Norske Kvinners Nasjonalråd), a regional branch of the International Council of Women.[7] The branch was notably active the following year, when the Storting held a national vote on the dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden. The Norwegian National Women's Council campaigned in support of the dissolution, circulating a brochure advocating for Norwegian independence.[14] Only men were permitted to cast a vote in the decision, despite calls from women who wanted to participate. On 13 August 1905, the day of the dissolution vote, Krog led female delegates from the most prominent Norwegian women's organizations into the Storting building, informing government that thousands of Norwegian women wished to vote their approval of the dissolution.[15] Having organized a nation-wide poll among women, the women later presented a petition with 300,000 names.[12] The incident impressed parliament members, contributing to serious discussions about granting suffrage to women.[15]
By 1906, the National Association for Women's Suffrage had continued to grow, with 40 local branches and 2500 members across the country. The association was increasingly better positioned to lobby politicians in all parts of Norway.[5]
Krog was part of the official Norwegian delegate sent to
In 1910, Norwegian women were granted universal suffrage in local elections. In 1913, the Storting voted unanimously to extend universal women's suffrage to general elections.[12]
Death and legacy
Krog died on 14 April 1916, during an influenza epidemic.
There are streets named Gina Krog's Way at
In March 2013, the
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Moksnes, Aslaug (29 September 2014). "Gina Krog". Norsk biografisk leksikon (in Norwegian). Retrieved 24 July 2019.
- ^ Hvem er Hvem?Haandbog over samtidige norske mænd og kvinder (in Norwegian) (1 ed.). Kristiania: Aschehoug. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
- ^ Store norske leksikon(in Norwegian). 24 August 2017. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
- ISBN 9780567387578.
- ^ ISBN 9781443803014.
- ^ Lønnå, Elisabeth (10 May 2017), "Norsk kvinnesaksforening", Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian), retrieved 20 July 2019
- ^ OCLC 44860746.
- Store norske leksikon(in Norwegian). 10 May 2017. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
- ^ a b Lønnå, Elisabeth (9 May 2017), "Kvinnestemmerettsforeningen", Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian), retrieved 20 July 2019
- ^ ISBN 9780191016837.
- ^ OCLC 180576761.
- ^ ISBN 9780567387578.
- ^ ISBN 9780415320269.
- ISBN 9780198727996.
- ^ ISBN 9780415257404.
- S2CID 157213679.
- ^ Wikborg, Tone (29 September 2014). "Ambrosia Tønnesen". In Helle, Knut (ed.). Norsk biografisk leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
- ISBN 82-573-0642-8.
- Norsk Kvinnesaksforening. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
- ^ "Dagny Field Renamed to Gina Krog Field (Norway)". Offshore Energy Today. 8 March 2013. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
Further reading
- Gamme, Anne (2001). "Mandsstemmer har vi saa evigt nok af fra før: perspektiver på stemmerettsdebatt for kvinner i Norge 1898–1913" (PDF). University of Oslo, Faculty of Humanities (in Norwegian). Oslo: University of Oslo. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 August 2019. Retrieved 7 August 2019.