Early Life
Knutson was born Cornelia Genevive Gjesdahl in Edmore, Ramsey County, North Dakota.
She grew up on the farm where she was born, and inherited her politics from her father, a Populist who belonged to a socialist organization called the Non-Partisan League.
After growing up and attending Concordia College in nearby Moorhead, Minnesota, Knutson planned on a career in opera and went to New York City to attend the Juilliard School for a year. When she realized she would not make it in opera, she returned to Minnesota, where she married Andy Knutson and moved to his farm near Oklee.
Read more about this topic: Coya Knutson
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