biology

Nielsine Nielsen

Nielsine Nielsen is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Nielsine Nielsen rather than just read about it. In short: 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.

Key takeaways

Nielsine Nielsen belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Nielsine Nielsen to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Nielsine Nielsen from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

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 first two female university students in Denmark. She was given a small allowance from the Dansk Kvindesamfund to make it economically possible for her to study. She graduated as a medical doctor and physician in 1885. She established herself as a medical practitioner in Copenhagen. She had planned to specialize in gynecology, but the only Danish gynecologist at the time, F. Howitz, would not accept her. However, in 1906 she was appointed communal specialist in venereal diseases and engaged in the rights of prostitutes. Nielsine Nielsen was active in the women's movement through the Dansk Kvindesamfund (DK). However, critical of the much too careful DK, she became engaged in more radical women's groups. In 1893–1898, she was the chairperson of the women's suffrage association Kvindevalgretsforeningen (KVF). In 1904, she and Louise Nørlund, Birgitte Berg Nielsen and Alvilda Harbou Hoff became the first female members of the liberal party. In 1907, she was one of the co-founders of the Landsforbundet for Kvinders Valgret.

Legacy A road has been named after her at Bispebjerg Hospital. There was talk about naming a road at Rigshospitalet, but has not happened.

References

Further reading Windsor, Laura Lynn (2002). Women in medicine: an encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781576073933. OCLC 52451817.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Nielsine Nielsen

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Nielsine Nielsen claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Nielsine Nielsen before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Nielsine Nielsen ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Nielsine Nielsen

In research: Nielsine Nielsen appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Nielsine Nielsen in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Nielsine Nielsen is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1850 births, 1916 deaths, 19th-century Danish medical doctors, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Nielsine Nielsen outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Nielsine Nielsen” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Nielsine Nielsen in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Nielsine Nielsen means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Nielsine Nielsen out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Nielsine Nielsen in simple terms?

Why does Nielsine Nielsen matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Nielsine Nielsen?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Nielsine Nielsen.