Severine Andrea Casse (née Engelbreth; 15 November 1805 – 20 October 1898) was a Danish women's rights activist and a prominent member of the Danish Women's Society.
Biography
Severine Andrea Engelbreth was born on 15 November 1805 in Lyderslev on the Stevns Peninsula, Denmark. She was the daughter of provost Wolf Frederik Engelbreth (1771–1862) and Kirstine Marie Petersen (1779–1868). Through her father, she came into contact with many religious figures in Zealand. In 1830, she married Andreas Lorentz Casse, the Danish Minister of Justice, with whom she had seven children.
Activism
From 1871 to 1873, Casse served on the board of the Danish Women's Society, where she focused on reforming marriage laws to improve the legal and economic status of married women. She successfully engaged jurist Carl Goos (1835–1917) and worked alongside pacifist politician Fredrik Bajer to advocate for a wife's right to dispose of her own earnings. With the support of the Danish Women's Society, new legislation was enacted on 7 May 1880 under the so-called Bajer's Law (Bajerske lov), which granted married women the right to control income they had earned themselves.
A talented public speaker, Casse was one of the oldest and most respected members of the Danish Women's Society. At the age of 90, she was granted honorary membership status. She died in the Frederiksberg district of Copenhagen on 20 October 1898.
