Nina Bang: The Marxist Historian Who Opened the Doors of Power to Women | Series: Women Who Changed History

Nina Bang
1866 – 1928

Introduction
Throughout history, women have played decisive roles both globally and locally. They struggled for rights, participated in governments, led nations, excelled in the arts and sciences, and inspired generations. Yet their stories were often marginalized or their impact diminished in historical narratives dominated by male perspectives.

The series Women Who Changed History seeks to shed light on outstanding women from different contexts—global, local, and regional: from political leaders and activists to pioneering researchers and influential cultural figures who left indelible marks on their societies and the world.

The first among these women is Nina Bang, Marxist activist and writer, and the first female minister in Denmark’s history. She became a milestone in the country’s educational policy and dedicated her life to class liberation and the empowerment of women through education. This series aims to acknowledge their contributions and inspire future generations to follow in their footsteps, rooted in the conviction that history is not written by men alone, but also shaped by women—especially those who waged intellectual and political battles against patriarchal and class-based systems of domination.

Early Life and Education
Nina Henriette Wendeline Bang was born on October 6, 1866, in Copenhagen, into a bourgeois family. Her father was Lauritz Nicolai Hansen and her mother Marianne Hansen. She grew up in a society that excluded women from educational opportunities and reinforced gender stereotypes, but Nina chose to rebel against this reality from an early age.

She obtained her high school diploma in 1884—a rare achievement for a girl of her class at the time—then enrolled at the University of Copenhagen to study history, at a time when the university barely admitted women.

She earned her master’s degree in 1894, specializing in economic and social history, reflecting her inclination to analyze class and economic structures from a critical perspective. She was influenced early on by the writings of Marx and Engels, and in her thesis she combined academic research with social critique. She was among the first women in Denmark to receive a university education, and she stood out with a Marxist-critical lens on history, making her an intellectual voice ahead of her time—rebelling against patriarchal dominance while calling for a socialist order.

Marriage and Intellectual Partnership with Gustav Bang
In 1895, she married Gustav Bang, a historian and prominent politician of the Social Democratic Party. For Nina, marriage was not a traditional framework of male authority but a partnership built on intellectual equality and a shared political project.

Together, they formed a rare Marxist-socialist duo, jointly analyzing the social and political realities of their time and contributing to the development of a radical critical vision for the future of Denmark and the world.

They had no children, but their relationship extended beyond private life into the public sphere, as their home became both an intellectual salon and a hub of political activity. Gustav’s death in 1915 was a personal shock to Nina, but it transformed into a renewed commitment, as though grief became a driving force for her continued defense of the working class and marginalized groups.

Personality and Lifestyle
Bang was characterized by intellectual rigor and simplicity of living. She did not seek display or prestige but devoted her life to scholarship and struggle. She chose to embody the model of both thinker and activist.

She penetrated the male-dominated political arena without compromising her principles, rejecting the mold of the “socially acceptable woman politician.” Her femininity did not lie in resembling men but in refusing to submit to stereotypical roles, redefining power through a firm and clear female voice.

She lived an austere life, away from privileges, focusing instead on the essence of her cause: justice, liberation, and class struggle.

Nina Bang was known for her courage, intellectual clarity, and refusal of political niceties. She never hid her positions and never retreated from defending her causes, earning both admiration and criticism.

She was sometimes nicknamed “the Iron Woman” long before that title became popular in European politics, embodying an alternative model of political femininity—one that redefined women’s strength in the public sphere.

At a time when women were politically marginalized, Bang was an exception, confronting both patriarchy and class oppression with strength. After her party’s loss in the 1926 elections, she left her ministerial position but continued her political work and academic critique, proving that struggle is not tied to office but to principled commitment.

Role in the Social Democratic Party
Nina Bang was not only an academic but also a powerful political actor within the Social Democratic Party. She joined the party’s Central Committee in 1913, when very few women had a voice inside political organizations.

From this position, she helped shape policies rooted in social justice and the expansion of political participation for both women and workers.

In 1918, she was elected a member of parliament, becoming one of the first women in Danish history to enter parliament through serious political work rather than symbolic representation. She fiercely defended the rights of the working class and confronted liberal and bourgeois factions in parliament.

Although committed to women’s issues, she did not position herself within a liberal feminist discourse. Instead, she considered women’s liberation inseparable from the liberation of society as a whole from economic and political constraints. She rejected a form of feminism that isolated gender struggle from class struggle, believing that such an approach stripped the movement of its revolutionary substance.

First Marxist Woman Minister in the West and Second in the World
In 1924, when Thorvald Stauning formed Denmark’s first Social Democratic government, Nina Bang was appointed Minister of Education. This made her the second woman in the world to hold a ministerial post—after Alexandra Kollontai in Soviet Russia in 1917—and the first in the West.

Her appointment represented the convergence of Marxism and feminism, since both Bang and Kollontai were revolutionary Marxists. For Denmark and Europe, Bang’s appointment marked the culmination of long struggles and was more than a symbolic breakthrough—it was a true transformation in women’s representation in executive power, breaking a centuries-old barrier.

As minister, Bang worked to reform schools, expand educational opportunities for the poor, and raise the teaching profession to include both genders. She believed education was not merely a service but a tool for social liberation.

She defended integrating socialist values into curricula and expanded school infrastructure in rural and industrial areas. She faced strong attacks from bourgeois elites who saw her projects as a threat to their privileges. Yet she remained steadfast, bravely confronting media and political campaigns aimed at undermining her simply because she was a “radical woman.”

Legacy and Significance
Nina Bang influenced both Danish and international politics—not merely as a woman who broke barriers but as an actor who transformed educational policy and intellectual debates about class and gender.

Today she is regarded as a symbol of liberation from patriarchal structures and as a role model linking women’s struggle with social justice. Her legacy extends beyond her short ministerial tenure and forms part of the longer history of women who led struggles from unconventional positions.

She left her mark on Marxist historiography, contributing to rereading history through both class and gender perspectives. She was among the first women historians to break men’s monopoly over academic history writing. Her legacy inspires all those seeking comprehensive justice beyond class and gender boundaries, making her a pioneer in integrating women’s issues into a broader project of social transformation.

Selected Works
Karl Marx: His Life and Work (1918)
In this book, Nina Bang offered a deep analytical reading of Karl Marx’s life and thought, skillfully highlighting his profound influence on labor movements worldwide, particularly in Europe and Denmark, while emphasizing his role in paving the way for the Russian Revolution of 1917.

Her work combined historical precision with sharp social insight, making the book a significant reference in socialist thought and helping to anchor Marxism within Danish consciousness.

This work stands as a unique achievement—not only for its intellectual content but also because it represented the first pioneering contribution by a woman to disseminating Marxist thought, paving the way for other women academics to break the male monopoly in leftist knowledge production.

Sources
Nina Bang, 1866–1928
https://danmarkshistorien.lex.dk/Nina_Bang,_1866-1928
Wikipedia
https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nina_Bang
Encyclopedia.com: A biographical article highlighting her historical significance as the world’s first female minister
Nina Bang on Encyclopedia.com (English)
Kvinfo.dk – Danish Centre for Information on Gender, Equality and Ethnicity
Dansk Kvindebiografisk Leksikon – “Nina Bang” by Birgitte Possing
Aarhus University – “Women in Danish Politics: Pioneers and Norm-breakers”



Source:
https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/nina-bang-the-marxist-historian-who-opened-the-doors-of-power-to-women-series-women-who-changed-history/

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