Gina Krog

Gina Krog was the greatest and most uncompromising idealist of the first Norwegian feminists. She was one of the founders of four different women’s organizations. Author and editor of the journal Nylænde (New Land). She never married.

She was born in Flakstad, Lofoten, and spent most of her childhood in Karmøy. Moved to Kristiania (former name of Oslo) at the age of eight, where she lived her entire adult life.

Krog was one of the founders of Norsk Kvinnesaksforening (The Norwegian Association for Women’s Rights) in 1884. The society disagreed on the issue of women’s right to vote. The leader, Hagbard Berner, wanted to introduce the demands of suffrage gradually. Krog disagreed. Therefore, she and ten other women founded Kvinnestemmerettsforeningen (The Women’s Voting Association) in 1885. However, in 1897, this organization was also split by disagreemets. The majority wanted to present the following suggestion to the Norwegian Parliament: “Women who earned more than the men who had the right to vote, should be given municipal voting rights”. Krog could not support anything less than total equality, and therefore resigned her position as leader. This discord led to the founding of Landskvinnestemmerettsforeningen (The National Women’s Voting Association). This association soon outgrew The Women’s Voting Association.

Gina Krog wanted complete gender equality, both politically and financially. After a long life of fighting for this, she could finally vote in the Parliamentary election of 1913.