Malla Samuelsen

Malene (Malla) Sofie Samuelsen née Poulsen (11 July 1909 – 29 November 1997) was a Faroese politician and feminist who became the first woman to sit in the Løgting, the Faroese parliament, when she served for a short period as a substitute in 1964. She was also one of the founders of the Faroese Women's Association (Kvinnufelagið), frequently serving as its chair.

Biography Born on 11 July 1909 in Kirkja on the easterly island of Fugloy, Malene Sofie Poulsen was the daughter of the fisherman Petur Pauli Poulsen (1881–1957) and his wife Susanne Elisabeth Zachariasen (1885–1919). One of seven children, after her mother died when she was eight, she was brought up by her maternal grandparents. Her grandfather, Símun Mikkjal Zachariasen, was a poet, politician and schoolteacher who played an active part in Faroese cultural life. It was not until 1978 that the first women, Jona Henriksen and Karin Kjølbro, were officially elected to the Løgting. She died in Tórshavn on 29 November 1997.