Christina Krook (1742 – 1806) was a Finnish educator. She was the principal of a

Finishing school A finishing school focuses on teaching young women social graces and upper-class cultural rites as a preparation for entry into society. The name reflects that it follows on from ordinary school and is intended to complete the education, wit ...

for girls in

Åbo Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a List of cities and towns in Finland, city and former Capital city, capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura (Archipelago Sea), Aura River, in the region of Southwest Finland, Finland Proper ...

, regarded as the most successful in Finland at the time.

Life

Christina Krook was the daughter of the official Gustav Krook (1704-1782), and Anna Christina Sund. She never married, and worked as a governess from 1765. In about 1782, she founded a boarding school in her home in Åbo. It was a typical school of its kind, with focus on accomplishments for girls expected to become wives and mothers and hostesses in high society. She and her sister Lovisa Juliana educated daughters from the rich merchant class and the nobility from the surrounding country side in the French language, etiquette, handicrafts, literature, drawing and dance.Aarniola, Sonja,
Säädynmukaista opetusta. Mamsellit ja kotiopettajat säätyläisperheissä Turun seudulla 1700-luvun lopulla
'', 2015 The school was successful in Åbo and Finland, where previously there had been no schools for girls, who had been sent to schools in Sweden. Following her example, schools for girls of the same kind were founded in first Åbo and then in other cities in Finland, notably that of Anna Salmberg. They started a debate about women's education in Finland, which eventually resulted in the founding of the

Svenska fruntimmersskolan i Åbo Svenska fruntimmersskolan i Åbo (Swedish Women's School of Åbo) or only Svenska fruntimmersskolan (Swedish Women's School) was a Girls' School in Turku (Swedish: Åbo) in Finland, active from 1844 to 1955. Alongside its equivalent in Helsinki, ...

(1844). Christina Krook died of gout.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Krook, Christina 1742 births 1806 deaths 18th-century Finnish educators 19th-century Finnish educators 19th century in Turku 18th century in Turku Governesses 19th-century women educators