Agnes Mathilde Wergeland
| Agnes Wergeland | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 8, 1857 Oslo, Norway |
| Died | 1914 Laramie, Wyoming, United States |
| Resting place | Greenhill Cemetery, Laramie, Albany County, Wyoming, US |
| Education | University of Zurich, Hartvig Nissen School, University of Oslo, Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich |
Agnes Mathilde Wergeland (May 8, 1857 – March 6, 1914) was a Norwegian-American historian, poet and educator. Agnes Mathilde Wergeland was the first woman ever to earn a doctoral degree in Norway.
Agnes Mathilde Wergeland was born in Christiania, Norway to Sverre Nicolai Wergeland (1817–96) and Anne Margrethe Larsen (1817–89). She was from a prominent, distinguished Norwegian family. Wergeland's family hailed from Brekke in Sogn. Her brother was Norwegian painter, Oscar Wergeland. She was the great-niece of Norwegian writer and politician, Nicolai Wergeland; hence Henrik Wergeland, Camilla Collett and Joseph Frantz Oscar Wergeland were the cousins of her father.
She attended Nissen Girls School in Christiania in 1879, studied independently Norwegian history, Greek and Roman architecture and sculpture, and medieval history at the University Library of Christiania from 1879 until 1883. Then she studied Old Norse and Icelandic law under jurist Konrad von Maurer at the University of Munich from 1883 to 1885. She then attended the University of Zurich, whence she took her PhD in 1890. Wergeland emigrated to America because there were few opportunities for women in higher education in Norway.
She received a fellowship in history from Bryn Mawr College in 1890 and lectured there for two years before lecturing at the University of Illinois in 1893. She was a docent in history and nonresident instructor at the University of Chicago from 1896 to 1902. In 1902, Wergeland was offered the position of chair of the department of history at the University of Wyoming. Agnes Wergeland remained a University of Wyoming history professor until her death. She is buried alongside Grace Raymond Hebard at Greenhill Cemetery, Laramie, Albany County, Wyoming, U.S.
...
Wikipedia