Elise Ottesen-Jensen, also known as Ottar, (2 January 1886 − 4 September 1973) was a Norwegian-Swedish sex educator, journalist and anarchist agitator, whose main mission was to fight for women's rights to understand and control their own body and sexuality. She was a member of the Swedish anarcho-syndicalist union Central Organisation of the Workers of Sweden. Her followers consider her a pioneer in the field of women's rights and feminism. Her personal motto was "I dream of the day when every new born child is welcome, when men and women are equal, and when sexuality is an expression of intimacy, joy and tenderness." Life and career A vicar's daughter, Ottar was born Elise Ottesen in the municipality of Høyland (incorporated into Sandnes in 1965) in Rogaland county, Norway. She was Immanuel Ottesen and Karen Arselle Essendrop's 17th out of 18 children, and as was customary in Norway at that time she was named Elise after her sister who died as an infant the year before. The name Ottar was her journalist pseudonym and was an abbreviation of her last name, but also a reference to the Norwegian Viking chief Ohthere of Hålogaland (Norwegian: ). Later in life, her father sent away her little sister Magnhild to give birth in Denmark, so that she could be forced to give up her child. Maghild was told nothing about pregnancy or birth, and for nine months she feared that her stomach would just split. She committed suicide because of the longing for the child she had to leave behind. For this, Ottar could never forgive her father, and the fate of her sister became a strong driving force for her commitment to the struggle for women's rights. Ottar's dream was to become a dentist, but an explosion in the chemistry laboratory of her high school injured her fingers, spoiling her chances to pursue a dentist career. Instead she started to work in a newspaper, and eventually became a journalist. She had always questioned the preachings of her father, and early on arrived at the conclusion that she was not a Christian. She now found that her sympathies were with the socialists, and it was with them she would struggle for the rest of her life. She made several attempts to organize working-class women. But soon they started asking her for advice in sexual matters, asking her questions like "Do I always have to