Alina Josefina Rosalie Jägerstedt (3 June 1858 – 3 November 1919) was a Swedish

social democrat Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...

and

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

ist. She was the only female member at the congress of 1889, where the

Swedish Social Democratic Party The Swedish Social Democratic Party, formally the Swedish Social Democratic Workers' Party ( sv, Sveriges socialdemokratiska arbetareparti ; S/SAP), usually referred to as The Social Democrats ( sv, link=no, Socialdemokraterna ), is a social-d ...

was founded. She participated as the representative for the (Scandinavian Tobacco Worker's Union). Thanks to the motion she presented at the congress, both sexes were included in the Swedish Social Democratic Party from the start.

Life

Alina Jägerstedt was born in family of the Stockholm working class. Her father, police officer Anders Johan Jägerstedt, died shortly after her birth, and her two brothers were placed in an orphanage (

Stora Barnhuset ''Stora Barnhuset'' (literally: "Great Children's Home"), from 1785 known as ''Allmänna Barnhuset'' ("Public Children's Home"), was Sweden's largest orphanage, founded 1633 in Stockholm and active until 1922. The charitable foundation of the orph ...

) because her mother was unable to support all of her children as a widow. Jägerstedt started to work in the

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

industry at the age of twelve. After having a child early with a man who abandoned her, she supported both herself, her daughter and her elderly mother alone. Jägerstedt joined the '' Skandinaviska Tobaksarbetarförbundet'' in 1884, the year of its foundation. Not only were there many women in the tobacco industry, but in contrast to other industrial work, women often had more qualified work assignments within this industry, which gave them a stronger position in its union than what was often otherwise the case at the time. Jägerstedt was a member of the union's board and several committees during the 1880s and 1890s, and it was in this capacity she participated in the congress of 1889, when the

was founded. During the congress she made a motion demanding women should be included as party members, which was not common for political parties at the time, but was supported by the congress. After the Social Democratic women's club '' Stockholms allmänna kvinnoklubb'' was founded by

Emilie Rathou Emilie Rathou, née ''Gustafsson'' (8 May 1862 – 12 October 1948) was a Swedish journalist, newspaper editor and elected official. She was a temperance and women's rights activist. On International Workers' Day in Stockholm 1891, she was the f ...

in 1892, Jägerstedt, as well as

Kata Dalström Anna Maria Katarina "Kata" Dalström, née Carlberg (18 December 1858 – 11 December 1923), was a Swedish socialist and writer. She belonged to the leading socialist agitators and leftist writers in contemporary Sweden, and has been referred to as ...

Anna Sterky Ane Cathrine "Anna" Sterky née Nielsen (1856–1939) was a Danish-Swedish politician (Social Democrat), trade union organiser, feminist and editor, chiefly active in Sweden. Sterky worked as a seamstress in Denmark, where she was active in th ...

Anna Lindhagen Anna Lindhagen (7 April 1870 in Stockholm – 15 May 1941 in Stockholm) was a Swedish politician (Social Democrat), social reformer and women's rights activist. In collaboration with Anna Åbergsson, she was a leading force in the introduction ...

and Amanda Horney, joined the club. In 1906, Jägerstedt was appointed member of the Communal Employment Agency in the city of Stockholm, and then referred to as the first working-class woman to be given a position in a municipal council. In 1913, she was elected to the 15th district of the Stockholm Retirement Council. When the Scandinavian Tobacco Worker's Union was nationalized in 1915, she was part of the committee of former members who negotiated compensation for those losing their positions, of which she herself was one. The last years of her life, she managed a tobacco shop with her daughter in Vasastaden.

References

* https://web.archive.org/web/20100811232503/http://www.arbetarrorelsenstankesmedja.se/files/infonrett.pdf * Anne-Marie Lindgren & Marika Lindgren Åsbrink: ”Systrar, kamrater!” Arbetarrörelsens Tankesmedja * Eva Schmit
Kvinnor, kamrater… Kvinnans roll i arbetarrörelsens uppbygge till slutet av 1930-talet. Till Eisersömmerskornas modiga kamp.
Bokförlaget Röda Rummet 1982
Rösträtt för kvinnor. Tidning utgiven av Landsföreningen för kvinnans politiska rösträtt, 1 November 1913
* Christina Carlsson: ''Kvinnosyn och kvinnopolitik: en studie av svensk socialdemokrati 1880-1910'' (1986)

Life

References

Further reading