Elise Ottesen-Jensen

Elise Ottesen-Jensen (1940)

Elise Ottesen-Jensen , pseudonym Ottar , (born January 2, 1886 in Høyland , today Sandnes , † September 4, 1973 in Stockholm ) was a Norwegian - Swedish sex educator , social reformer , journalist and anarchist activist who advocated women's rights to sexual self-determination fought and promoted sexual education.

Life

Elise Ottesen was born in 1886 as the 17th of 18 children of a clergyman. The pregnancy of his younger sister Magnhild was a formative experience for Ottesen. The father sent the unmarried pregnant woman to Denmark to give birth in order to keep the pregnancy a secret. On her return Magnhild had to be admitted to an institution for the mentally ill and later committed suicide. Ottesen could never forgive her father for this and the fate of his sister became a lifelong impetus for Ottesen's struggle for women's rights.

Ottesen initially studied dentistry, but lost several fingers in an explosion in a chemistry laboratory and she began working for a daily newspaper. Due to the rampant poverty in Scandinavia, Ottesen got involved in the labor movement and made several attempts to organize women workers. But soon they also sought advice on questions of marriage and sexuality.

At the end of the First World War, Ottesen met the Swedish anarcho-syndicalist and peace activist Albert Jensen. The couple married and Elise Ottesen took on the double name Ottesen-Jensen. When Albert Jensen was expelled from Norway because of his political activities, she went with him to Denmark. There Ottesen-Jensen gave birth to a child, which, however, died soon after the birth. The Jensens also had to leave Denmark and moved to Sweden. There Ottesen-Jensen met a doctor who explained how to use a diaphragm. She then went on a nationwide trip to explain contraceptive methods to Swedish workers. She was also intensely committed to the right of women to sexual self-determination, sexual pleasure, free abortion, the repeal of the laws against contraception and the rights of homosexuals. Because her activities violated the law, she faced severe penalties. Ottesen-Jensen became a member of the Swedish anarcho-syndicalist trade union Sveriges Arbetares Central Organization and was also involved here for women's rights.

In the 1920s, Ottesen-Jensen wrote regularly about women's issues for the Arbetaren newspaper . After differences of opinion with her colleagues about her open and taboo language, she founded her own magazine Vi kvinnor (Eng. We women ) in 1925 , which did not last long. She later wrote for the anarchist magazine Brand .

In 1933 Ottesen-Jensen founded Riksförbundet för Sexuell Upplysning (Reich Association for Sexual Education ) together with doctors and union representatives and was its first president until 1956. Ottesen-Jensen was also co-founder of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) in 1953 .

Honors

In 2001 the Reich Association for Sexual Education renamed its Bulletin "Ottar".

reception

War of dreams. 1918-1939 . Documentation, arte , 2018

Works

Ovälkomna barn: ett ord till kvinnorna . 1926
Männniskor i nöd: Det sexuella mörkrets offer . 1932
with Nils Nielsen: ABC for ett lyckligt äktenskap . 1947
Oh livet skrev . 1965
Livet skrev: memoarer 1886–1966 . Ordfront, 1966
Arbetarrörelsen - males ellermänsklighetens rörelse? . Federativs, 1980

Web links

Short biography , Museum for Contraception and Abortion, Vienna

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Cindy Larsen: Yelah.net - Om Elise Ottesen-Jensen . Yelah. March 5, 2001. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007.
^ Britta Grondahl: SAC Syndikalisterna: Elise Ottesen-Jensen . Sveriges Arbetares Central Organization (SAC). Archived from the original on February 9, 2007.
^ ^A ^b The Swedish Association for Sexuality Education: Our history . Riksförbundet för sexual upplysning (RFSU). Archived from the original on September 27, 2007.
^ Hjördis Levin: Elise Ottesen-Jensen ( sv ) Archived from the original on September 29, 2007.
^ ^A ^b Carl Gustaf Boethius: Sex Education in Swedish Schools: The Facts and the Fiction (= Family Planning Perspectives, Vol. 17, No. 6). Guttmacher Institute, 1985, p. 276, doi : 10.2307 / 2135318 , OCLC 38889422 .
↑ Per Magnus Johansson: Sweden and Psychoanalysis . Psychomedia . 2003.
↑ Ottar - pionjären i svensk sexualupplysning. Riksförbundet för sexuell upplysning (RFSU), November 20, 2017, accessed on August 29, 2018 (Swedish).

personal data
SURNAME	Ottesen-Jensen, Elise
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Ottesen, Elise (maiden name); Ottar (pseudonym)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Norwegian-Swedish sex educator, social reformer, journalist and anarchist activist
DATE OF BIRTH	January 2, 1886
PLACE OF BIRTH	Høyland
DATE OF DEATH	4th September 1973
Place of death	Stockholm

[yelah-1] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Cindy Larsen: Yelah.net - Om Elise Ottesen-Jensen . Yelah. March 5, 2001. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007.

[sac-2] Britta Grondahl: SAC Syndikalisterna: Elise Ottesen-Jensen . Sveriges Arbetares Central Organization (SAC). Archived from the original on February 9, 2007.

[rfsu-en-3] A ^b The Swedish Association for Sexuality Education: Our history . Riksförbundet för sexual upplysning (RFSU). Archived from the original on September 27, 2007.

[4] Hjördis Levin: Elise Ottesen-Jensen ( sv ) Archived from the original on September 29, 2007.

[boethius-5] A ^b Carl Gustaf Boethius: Sex Education in Swedish Schools: The Facts and the Fiction (= Family Planning Perspectives, Vol. 17, No. 6). Guttmacher Institute, 1985, p. 276, doi : 10.2307 / 2135318 , OCLC 38889422 .

[pscyhomedia-6] Per Magnus Johansson: Sweden and Psychoanalysis . Psychomedia . 2003.

[rfsu-ottar-sv-7] Ottar - pionjären i svensk sexualupplysning. Riksförbundet för sexuell upplysning (RFSU), November 20, 2017, accessed on August 29, 2018 (Swedish).