Born in
Kolding on 8 May 1952, Birgitte Possing, one of four children, was the daughter of a nurse and a dentist. Both were from Copenhagen but had moved to Kolding on the east coast of
Jutland to bring their children up near the surrounding woods and seashore. She studied history and
ethnography at
Aarhus University, graduating as
Cand.mag. in 1979. She later earned a doctorate from the
University of Copenhagen (1992). After teaching for a year at the Nordic Folk High School for Women (Den Nordiske Kvindehøjskole) in
Visby, she turned to research and lecturing, spending four years (1986–1990) at the Royal Danish School of Educational Studies (Danmarks Lærerhøjskole) in Copenhagen. From 1991 to 1998, she was chief archivist and head of the Manuscript Department at the Royal Danish Library where she was responsible for the registration of literary sources. After two years serving as director of research at the National Museum (1998–2000), she was appointed director of the Danish Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities. After gaining the status of professor at the
University of Southern Denmark in 1999, in 2000 she was appointed senior research fellow at the Danish National Archives. Since 2006, she has been an affiliated professor at the University of Copenhagen. In connection with her biography of Natalie Zahle, Possing commented: "I came across her archive while trying to find out why the distribution of power and gender had been the way it was in Denmark. I discovered that all the women who were pioneers in Denmark came from her school — all those who made their mark in science, politics, education and business. I thought something must have happened that we haven't had explained. So I decided to restore her legacy." ==Selected publications==