When Gina Krog died in 1916, she was the first woman in Norway to be buried at the expense of the state. The next was Sigrid Undset in 1949. That says a lot about Gina Krog’s influence and significance. No piquant details Gina Krog has been described as the very leader of the Norwegian women’s movement, and several have made plans to write a biography about her. But before this release, it has come to mind. Maybe it’s because there are so few “juicy” details from her life. The private letters are mostly about matters, and there are no diaries or the like. “Anyone who could wish to dive deep into Gina’s private life will be disappointed.” writes Folkvord in the preface. The author, on the other hand, uses speeches, debate posts, meeting minutes and not least almost 30 volumes of «Nylænde», for which the magazine Krog was the editor. NYLÆNDE: A Norwegian feminist magazine published from 1887 to 1927. Gina Krog was editor until her death in 1916. The case-oriented source material fits well with the subject, because Krog lived for the cause. As a 33-year-old, she quit her job as a teacher and devoted the rest of her life entirely to the fight for women’s rights. The art of changing the world Magnhild Folkvord writes an exciting first chapter in which Gina Krog as the first woman in modern Norway speaks publicly in a debate in 1884. Krog states about the entry of women’s issues in Norway that the question is not about, but how this should happen. The story of Gina Krog is the story of women’s suffrage in Norway. Krog did not want to support a step-by-step process, as some in the early women’s movement wanted, but advocated full voting rights from the very beginning. When Norway, as one of the first countries in the world, introduced full voting rights on equal terms with men in the parliamentary elections in 1913, Krog continued the fight to get women elected to the Storting. It should take longer. Telephonists and hairdressers The story of Krog is also the story of the feminist magazine «Nylænde». For me, this is one of the highlights of the biography. Among other things, Folkvord takes the time to write about the journalist Anna Hvoslef’s work reports from 1897 about women in various jobs, such as the telephone operators and the hairdressers (female hairdressers). In his work with the magazine, Krog appears to be startlingly clairvoyant and writes at one point: As an editor, Krog, for example, made sure to document all contributions to the voting rights debate in the Storting in the 1890s. In a similar way, Folkvord’s biography provides insight into different attitudes and positions in the debates. For example, one of Krog’s major opponents, the veterinary director Ole O. Malm, states that the women’s movement was a symptom of the dissolution of society and that the right to vote for women would be an act of violence against children. Gina Krog called him an «interesting ancient monument». Little drama The lack of access to the inner life of Krog often leads the author to ask questions. For example, when Krog speaks for the first time: Or in the question of why Krog never married: Folkvord’s question works as an incentive and adds a certain tension to the material. Still, I could have wished for some more drama in the book. It entices with the subtitle “feminist and pinnacle climber”, but the pinnacle is not a particularly central part of the biography. In the biographies of Fredrikke Marie Qvam and Betzy Kjelsberg, which Folkvord published in 2016, she clearly shows how Gina Krog’s authority could seem oppressive. I wonder if the more troubled sides of Krog could have been made more of in this book. THREE BIOGRAPHIES: The biography of Gina Krog is the third in a row from Magnhild Folkvord about significant women’s women in Norway. Photo: Klassekampen / Samlaget First wave This is the third biography Folkvord has published about a central feminist woman from feminism’s so-called first wave in Norway. Overall, the books are important reference works for the first period of feminism in Norway. The biography of Gina Krog provides insight into what early feminists thought about everything from equal pay, prostitution, trafficking, women’s invisible work in the home, abortion and women’s rights. Gina Krog’s security and clarity remain as both remarkable and central at the beginning of the women’s struggle. Folkvord’s thorough and at the same time easy-to-read biography conveys this in an excellent way. news reviewer Photo: Solum bokvennen Title: «Gina Krog – feminist and peak climber» Author: Magnhild Folkvord Genre: Non-fiction Number of pages: 334 Publisher: Solum Bokvennen Date: June 2022 Hi! I am a freelancer and reviewer of books for news. If you are wondering which books I recommend you read, you can see my reviews of “Fiskehuset” by Stein Torleif Bjella, “Kveldens ubehag” by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld and “Gutteboka” by Nina Brochmann and Ellen Støkken Dahl.
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“Gina Krog – feminist and peak climber” by Magnhild Folkvord – Reviews and recommendations
