Elise Sem

Elise Sem (26 November 1870 – 9 January 1950) was a Norwegian barrister, women's activist and sports official. She was the first female attorney in Europe and the first female barrister in Norway.

Early life and education She was a daughter of district stipendiary magistrate Gabriel Egidius Johan Henrik Sem (1824–1900) and Emma Nathalie Christensen (1843–1933). She was a grand niece of Niels Arntzen Sem. She was born in Christiania, but grew up in Mandal.

At the age of 24 she moved back to Kristiania to take secondary education. She finished this at Gjertsen School in 1896 and enrolled at the Royal Frederick University in 1897. She graduated with the cand.jur. degree in 1901.

In 1905 she was the first female prosecutor in Norway, in 1911 she was the first woman to appear in a Supreme Court. This was one of her three mandatory trials to become a barrister, with access to working with Supreme Court cases. When she was finally authorized as a barrister on 27 July 1912, she was the first of the kind in Norway.

Sem was also a deputy board member of the Norwegian Association for Women's Rights and secretary of the anti-white slave trade organization . In 1920 she was a co-founder and board member of the Norwegian Female Academics, a member body of the International Federation of University Women. serving as the first chairman in 1912–1916 and in 1919.

From 1916 she resided in Villa Furulund at Holmenkollen together with her mother as well as two sisters. She died in January 1950 and was buried at Vår Frelsers gravlund.