Gudrun Løchen Drewsen

Gudrun Løchen Drewsen (1867–1946) was a Norwegian-born American women's rights activist and painter. A competent organizer and strategist, she was one of the founders and principal figures in New York's Norwegian Suffrage League. She contributed effectively to the American suffrage cause after Norwegian women were granted voting rights in 1913. As a painter, she participated in Oslo's national art exhibition in 1890.

Biography She was born on 5 May 1867 on an estate in Inderøy Municipality, Norway. Gudrun Løchen was the daughter of Herman Løchen, a parliamentarian, (1822–1876) and Anna Margrethe Jenssen (1826–1911). The family's 10th child, she was born at a time when her parents were not as prosperous as they had been earlier. After her father died when she was nine, she lived with various relatives, receiving private tuition while living with an uncle in Trondheim until he too experienced economic difficulties. By contrast, her brothers were able to pursue their studies in Christiania (now Oslo). She also moved to the capital later, living with her mother-in-law while studying painting with Erik Werenskiold, Christian Krogh and Hans Heyerdahl. While in Christiania, she met the successful chemist Viggo Beutner Drewsen (1858–1930), whom she married in 1887. From 1913, when Norwegian women were granted voting rights, Drewsen became even more effective.