Henny Magnussen

Henny Sophie Magnussen née Petersen (1878–1937) was a Danish lawyer, the first woman to be permitted to work in the high courts of Denmark after successfully graduating from the University of Copenhagen in 1905.

[1] After matriculating from Gammelholm Latin- og Realskole, she studied law at the University of Copenhagen when permission was given to women to undertake the course.

After she rallied the support of members of parliament, the minister of justice Peter Adler Alberti proposed changes in the regulations allowing women to serve as lawyers with the same privileges as men.

[3] She encouraged members of parliament to support her attempt to be allowed to work in the high courts.

[2] For a number of years she worked with the high court attorneys Charles Shaw and Harald Dietrichson, finally setting up a practice of her own.