Fredrikke Marie Qvam

Fredrikke Marie Qvam was a Norwegian humanitarian leader, feminist, liberal politician and the wife of Prime Minister Ole Anton Qvam. She was the founder (1896) of the Norwegian Women's Public Health Association that grew to become Norway's largest women's organisation with 250,000 members, and served as its first President from 1896 to 1933, and as its Honorary President from 1933 until her death. She also served as President of the Norwegian Association for Women's Rights from 1899 to 1903. She was widely regarded as one of the most influential and successful political lobbyists of her time, and was described in the journal Samtiden in 1915 as the "Queen of the corridors." During her lifetime she was addressed as "Madam Cabinet Minister" and later as "Madam Prime Minister", using her husband's titles.