Ellen Gyrithe Lemche née Frisch (1866–1945) was a Danish writer, women's rights campaigner and local historian. She is remembered in particular for the important part she played in the activities of the Danish Women's Society (Dansk Kvindesamfund), especially around 1915 when the Danish Constitution was amended to include women's suffrage. She was a co-founder of Lyngby-Tårbæk Local Historic Society (Historisk-Topografisk Selskab for Lyngby-Tårbæk) in 1927. Early life and family Born in Copenhagen on 17 April 1866, Ellen Gyrithe Frisch was the daughter of the headmaster Hartvig Frisch (1833–90) and Elisabeth Alexandra Mourier (1835–92). On 19 July 1893, she married the physician Johan Henrich Lemche (1863–1962). Ellen Gyrithe spent her early years in Copenhagen's Store Kongensgade before moving with her family to Lyngby where her maternal grandparents lived. Together with her three siblings, she was first educated at home, then attended N. Zahle's School. On matriculating, she began to study German at the University of Copenhagen but soon gave up, discouraged by the males dominated environment she experienced. Instead she became a teacher at her father's school until her marriage in 1893. Despite giving birth to three children, one of whom died when two years old, she devoted herself to writing, leaving her children to the care of her husband and the household staff. Career as a writer Her first book, the semi-biographical novel Soedtmanns Jomfruer, portrays the history of the inhabitants of Lyngby, including her relatives, from medieval times to the present. Her interest in local history later led to her becoming a co-founder of the Lyngby-Tårbæk History Society (Historisk-Topografisk Selskab for Lyngby-Tårbæk) in 1927. In 1899, she published Folkets Synder which brought out the lack of attention given to women's sexuality. Her most important work was however the family novel Edwardsgave which was published in five volumes from 1900 to 1912, set principally in the 18th century. She also published De Fyrstenberg Bønder (1905), depicting the lives of farmers in Gentofte in the 18th and 19th centuries. Involvement as a women's rights activist In 1906, her elder sister Vibeke Salicath who was a board member of the Danish Women's Society, invited her to the society's national convention. In 1910, Lemche was appointed to the board and under Astrid Stampe Feddersen's presidency from 1913 to 1918 became the organization's most active ideologist and effective leader. She is remembered in particular for her speech in 1912 calling for reforms to the