Celebrating Strong Swedish Women

In observance of the International Women's Day: Swedish history seen from a woman's perspective 

  • Celebrating Swedish women who made a difference: In 1748 the scientist Eva De la Gardie-Ekeblad became the first woman admitted to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences as she helped solve Sweden’s recurrent food crises - and in the process also discovered how to use potatoes to create vodka.
  • March 8 is International Women’s Day, and what better way to celebrate it than by looking back at Swedish history as seen from a woman’s perspective?

  • Karin Söder becomes Sweden’s first female party leader (the Center Party). The year is 1985. These are just a few of many Swedish (and foreign) women who have helped pave the way for a more equal society in Sweden.
  • Here’s a general outline celebrating how WOMEN'S RIGHTS have changed in Sweden from the 17th to 21st centuries:

  • In 1947, Karin Kock becomes Sweden’s first female local government commissioner. Here she is seen next to Prime Minister Tage Erlander.
  • 1632 – A school for girls is founded in Västerås by Johannes Rudbeckius. The girls are being taught in catechism, reading, counting and other things that they might need later on.

  • In 1945 Austrian physicist Lise Meitner becomes the first female member of the Swedish Academy of Science.
  • 1748 – Den Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien (The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences) receives its first female member: Countess Eva De la Gardie-Ekeblad, an agronomist and scientist whose most known discovery was to make flour and alcohol out of potatoes (1746).

  • Selma Lagerlöf receives the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1909.
  • 1773 – Konstakademin (Swedish Academy of Arts) receives its first female member, Ulrika Pasch. Also the first woman’s magazine is published by Anna Hammar-Rosén. It’s called “Hvad nytt? Hvad nytt?” (What’s new? What’s new”), and it is rumored to have been of high literary quality.

  • Russian mathematician Sonya Kovalevsky becomes the first female university professor in Sweden in 1886.
  • 1839 – Carl Jonas Love Almqvist’s book feminist book “Det går an” is published

  • One of Sweden’s leading socialist agitators and leftist writers of her time, Kata Dahlström becomes the first woman in the Social Democratic Party executive in 1900.
  • 1845 – Equal right of inheritance for men and women is being introduced.

  • Swedish writer and a feminist activist Fredrika Bremer. The association Fredrika Bremer-förbundet was founded in 1884.
  • 1846 – Unmarried women (including widows and divorcees) are permitted to work with crafts and certain trade.

  • Carl Jonas Love Almqvist's book "Det går an," published in 1839, during a steamboat trip between Stockholm and Lidköping, a sergeant named Albert falls in love with the glazier's daughter Sara Videbeck. But Sara insists they live in an egalitarian marriage without a formal ceremony and without shared property (today known as living apart together). Sara asks at the end of the book: Går allt detta an, Albert? (Is all this acceptable, Albert?) The answer is: Det går an (It is acceptable).
  • 1853 – Women are given the right to teach in smaller folk schools.

  • Painter and miniaturist Ulrika Pasch becomes the first member of the Swedish Academy of Arts in 1773.
  • 1858 – An unmarried woman who has turned 25 may be considered “of lawful age” if she applies for it in court. Should she then marry she loses this privilege.

  • Young Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg.
  • 1864 – Men lose their rights to lawfully own their wives.

  • Working women live well in Sweden. Archive photo courtesy of Internationella kvinnoföreningen i Malmö.
  • 1872 – Women may decide for themselves who they want to marry.

  • 1873 – Women may pass academic examinations at universities, albeit not in theology or law.

  • 1884 – The Fredrika Bremer Association is founded.

  • 1886 – The first women’s trade union is founded: Home seamstresses in Lund. Russian mathematician Sonya Kovalevsky becomes the first female university professor.

  • 1888 – The first female with a Medical Licentiate, Karolina Widerström.

  • 1900 – Kata Dahlström becomes the first woman in the Social Democratic Party executive.

  • 1901 – Right to time off (without salary) for women after they’ve given birth.

  • 1909 – Selma Lagerlöf receives the Nobel Prize in Literature.

  • 1913 – Anna Herslow and Kristina Frank become the first city councilwomen, Malmö.

  • 1914 – Selma Lagerlöf becomes the first female member of the Swedish Academy.

  • 1919 – Women get the right to vote.

  • 1921 – The law of a woman’s virginity at marriage is cancelled.

  • 1935 – Women get the same kind of state pension as men.

  • 1936 – Women employed by the state get the right to take a leave of absence during pregnancy and birth. Paid.

  • 1937 – Equal salaries for male and female elementary school teachers.

  • 1937-1938 – The ban against the use, information and sales of contraceptives is abolished.

  • 1945 – Austrian physicist Lise Meitner becomes the first female member of the Academy of Science.

  • 1947 – Child benefit for everyone is established. Karin Kock becomes Sweden’s first female local government commissioner.

  • 1949 – Women, along with men, are acknowledged as guardians of their children.

  • 1955 – Women are allowed 90 days of maternity leave.

  • 1958 – Women are allowed to become pastors.

  • 1960 – Same salary for same work for men and women.

  • 1964 – Oral contraceptive pills are approved.

  • 1970 – Equal rights are written into the curriculum at schools.

  • 1972 – The first March 8 demonstration takes place. Arranged by Grupp 8.

  • 1975 – A new abortion law is being introduced. Now the woman may decide herself regarding abortion up to the 18th week of pregnancy.

  • 1976 – Anna Christensen becomes the first female professor of law.

  • 1979 – Parents of young children have the right to 6-hour workdays.

  • 1982 – Domestic violence is subject to public prosecution. Women may chose to keep their maiden name at time of marriage.

  • 1983 – All professions are open for women. Even the ones in Swedish national defense.

  • 1985 – Karin Söder becomes Sweden’s first female party leader (the Center Party).

  • 1994 – The Swedish Parliament becomes the most equal in the world, of the 349 members, 144 are women.

  • 1997 – Christina Odenberg becomes the first female bishop.

  • 1998 – A law banning the sale of sexual favors.

  • 2000 – Wanja Lundby-Wedin becomes the first female chairwoman of the trade union LO.

  • 2018 - Greta Thunberg, the young climate activist who created a global movement need no introduction.

  • In a country like Sweden it is relatively good to be a woman. That is, in general; there are severe exceptions such as women without papers who are hiding and have no access to protection from abuse. Read more - Battered 'paperless' women