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Zahle, Natalie (1827-1913). Danish educationist and school founder. Born in As at Horsens. Her mother, Wilhelmine, and her father, Ernst, both died in 1837. Natalie and her younger brother, Peter, who like his father became a priest, were placed in the care of foster parents. Essentially self-taught, Zahle read widely in history, philosophy, languages and literature. She also became interested in the works of such educationists as Grundtvig, Pestalozzi and Rousseau. In her teenage years she worked as a governess, but in 1850 was successful in an examination qualifying her to be principal of a school. This first professional examination for women in Denmark had been introduced three years before. Her early attempts to establish a school were unsuccessful, however, and in April 1852 Zahle was preparing to continue her career as a governess in Russia when she was asked to take over the pupils of another school that had closed. Eight years later the school had 202 pupils and was the leading girls’ school in Denmark. Zahle’s school was run on family lines, and she herself acted as foster mother to three of the pupils. Zahle broke with many of the traditional elements in Danish education for girls, with its concerns for needlework and polite conversation. The school was run on Christian, patriotic and liberal principles. Her emphasis was upon the power of knowledge, and the importance of strength of will, industry and diligence. She presented a relatively conservative image, arguing that marriage was a perfectly acceptable and natural state for women who should be maintained by their husbands wherever possible. But she also stressed the necessity for intellectual equality in marriage, and the need to equip the unmarried daughters of the middle classes with the skills and means of providing for themselves. Though many of Zahle’s pupils subsequently became teachers, some became prominent champions of women’s rights. In 1915 Danish women achieved the vote. Towards the end of her life Zahle enjoyed considerable fame, and was feted in 1912 as ‘Denmark’s first lady’. This reputation continued in the years after her death when she was regarded as a national heroine, but since the 1970s she has been attacked by some feminists for what have been seen as reactionary views. See her own writings, which included several magazine articles, and two books, Om den Kvindelige Uddannelse her i Landet. Et par Ord til Overvejelse (1873); Om Kvindens Uddannelse her i Landet. Et par Ord til Overvejelse (2 vols, 1882-3), and Possing, B., The Strength of the Will. Natalie Zahle: A Biography on Gender, Education and Absolute Power (2 vols, 1992).