Fredrikke Marie Qvam

Fredrikke Marie Qvam
7th President of the Norwegian Association for Women's Rights
In office 1899–1903
Preceded by	Randi Blehr
Succeeded by	Randi Blehr
1st President the Norwegian Women's Public Health Association
In office 1896–1933
Succeeded by	Anna Welle Grue
Personal details
Born	31 May 1843
Died	10 September 1938
Nationality	Norway
Political party	Liberal Party
Spouse(s)	Ole Anton Qvam

Fredrikke Marie Qvam (31 May 1843 – 10 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 Association that grew to become Norway's largest women's organisation with 250,000 members, and served as its first President from 1896 to 1933, and as its Honorary President from 1933 until her death. She also served as President of the Norwegian Association for Women's Rights from 1899 to 1903. She was widely regarded as one of the most influential and successful political lobbyists of her time, and was described in the journal Samtiden in 1915 as the "Queen of the corridors."

Qvam was born Fredrikke Marie Gram in Trondheim to merchant David Andreas Gram and Louise Augusta Gram (née Bing). In 1849, the family moved to the manor Helge-By-Rein in Steinkjer. There she spent much time outdoors in sports like skiing, skating, and riding. Her parents were liberal for the time, and her mother in particular wanted her daughters to be educated and trained in sports. The family was socially well connected and culturally involved and among their guests were Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Ole Bull, Aasmund Olavsson Vinje and Peter Chr. Asbjørnsen.

Fredrikke Marie Gran met her husband, Ole Anton Qvam, in 1857 when he was tutoring her. He was born in 1831 to a family of farmers in Molde, had taken examen artium and worked as a teacher in private home. They became secretly engaged in 1858 and married in 1865 after Ole Anton Qvam had finished law studies in Kristiania in 1862. In 1873, the couple bought the Gjævran farm and moved there. They had five children, of which two died in childhood and two while they were young. Three of the children died of tubercolosis, in 1878, 1889, and 1893 respectively. She later stated that the sorrow she felt when experiencing her children die of ill health was one of the things that motivated her to found the Norwegian Women's Public Health Association.

...
Wikipedia