Maren “Mary” Kæmpegaard born Jensen was one of the first three female council members in Skive City Council. Elected for Det Radikale Venstre in 1909-1913 and again in 1916-17.
Kæmpegaard was born in Herning on December 25, 1969, she was born Maren but later used Mary probably because the mother-in-law who lived with the couple was also named Maren.
In 1898, Kæmpegaard settled with her husband in Skive, where they lived on Adelgade.
Here she was involved in women’s rights and social reform. For a time, Kæmpegaard was a member of the board of the Danish Women’s Society in Skive. With the change in the election law and the possibility of electing women to the city council, Kæmpegaard was elected together with Laura Petersen and Louise Thomsen. Kæmpegaard was placed in a “safe” position on the electoral list and was elected for the first time in 1909.
Kæmpegaard moved from Skive to Copenhagen after her husband’s death in 1922. After her death, she was buried with her husband in Skive Cemetery.
She married the prominent doctor Andreas Espersen Kæmpegaard. The couple had a foster daughter who died at the age of 7 during a visit to Jenle. The foster daughter Edith Kæmpegaard had a verse written about her by Jeppe Aakjær, who witnessed the death.
Later, the couple had another girl Astrid Kæmpegaard living with them, they had been the father at Astrid’s birth, but the exact relationship is unknown.
Sources
- Skive Folkeblad 19/4-1916, 18/4-1951
- Rigshospitalet parish, Sokkelund, Copenhagen – Church records (danishfamilysearch.dk)
- Herning parish, Hammerum, Ringkøbing – Church records (danishfamilysearch.dk)
- Skive parish, Hindborg, Viborg – Census – 1921 (danishfamilysearch.dk)