Marie Rovsing

Marie Nicolina Theodora Rovsing née Schack (1814–1888) was a pioneering Danish women's rights activist. From 1871 to 1888 she was a board member of the Danish Women's Society, serving as president from 1883 to 1887. Interested in allowing women to practise crafts and manual work traditionally reserved for men, on her death she left a legacy which among other things allowed two women to be the first in Denmark to qualify as carpenters.

Biography Born on 11 November 1814 in Sengeløse to the west of Copenhagen, Marie Nicolina Theodora Schack was the daughter of Nicolai Clausen Schack (1781–1844), a provost, and Tagea Dorothea Erasmi (1785–1841). She was educated together with her sister Hansine at Miss Zeuthen's girls' boarding school. In 1845, she married the school director Kristen Rovsing (1812–1889) although she continued to promote her maiden name including ( Schack) when she referred to herself.