Nielsine Nielsen
Nielsine Nielsen (10 June 1850 – 8 October 1916) was the first female academic and physician in Denmark. She graduated in 1885 and in 1889 she established her own medical practice and worked as a general practitioner. She was active in the gender equality movement through her work in Danish Women's Society. Early life Her parents were the well off shipowner Lars Nielsen (1808–86) and Karen Jensen (1811–82). She was raised in Svendborg. During her childhood, her brother and sister died of typhoid, which is said to have affected her interest in medicine. Career In 1868, she supported herself as a teacher at the Frøknerne Villemoes-Qvistgaards Institut in Copenhagen and worked as a governess in the provinces a couple of years. In 1874, she corresponded with the Swedish female physician Charlotte Yhlen, who advised her to contact the Danish parliamentarian C. E. Fenger, who was known to support women's rights and who had previously supported the first female Danish telegrapher, Mathilde Fibiger. Fenger forwarded her apply to study medicine at the university to the ministry of education. In 1875, a royal decree issued the reform to allow women access to university education. In 1877, she and Johanne Gleerup became the