19/01/1876 – 14/05/1957
Author, lecturer
Thit Jensen used her writing and her many lectures to draw attention to women’s position in society. She was incredibly energetic and, in the period 1903–28, published roughly one novel a year. Her first books were contemporary novels with women’s political themes. Later, she wrote historical novels with strong and overlooked women as protagonists. She used fiction as propaganda and provocation.
She was one of the first female authors in Denmark to deliberately court media attention, and she possessed a defiance and strength that shocked her contemporaries. The reactions to her views on taboo subjects such as voluntary motherhood, contraception and abortion were fierce. Her efforts to promote birth control outraged the bourgeoisie, and she was subjected to outright smear campaigns in the form of satire and caricatures.
Thit Jensen showed the courage of her convictions and, with tremendous impact, challenged the era’s expectations of women, men and the family. She was a role model with a clear purpose in life: to change the world with a focus on equality and freedom.
