Elin Kallio (23 April 1859

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

– 25 December 1927, Helsinki) was a celebrated pioneering Finnish

gymnast Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, sh ...

. She is considered the founder of the women’s gymnastic movement in Finland. Kallio was educated at the Stockholm Royal Gymnastic Institute. She was a gymnastics instructor for thirty-four years at private Finnish girls schools and at the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku (in Swedish ''Åbo'') in 1640 as the ...

. She founded the first Finnish association for female gymnasts in 1876 and this developed into the Federation of Finnish Women Gymnasts in 1896. Kallio wrote extensively on the subject of

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shou ...

and women's physical education. In 1959, a hundred years after her birth she was commemorated on a Finnish postal stamp.

References

Famous Women on stamps
Elin Kallio Accessed February 2009
Elin Kallion Voimistelujärjestelmä − Suomalaisen Naisvoimistelun Perusta
Aino Sarje, 2008 . With English translation. * * ''"Naisvoimistelun käsikirja" ("Women's gymnastics Handbook.")'', 1901 * ''"Voimistelun käsikirja. Etupäässä naisseminaarien ja kansakoulujen tarpeeksi" (Gymnastics Handbook. Mainly of seminars for women and people of school age)'', 1909 * ''"Komentoharjoituksia" ("Command Exercises")'', 1924 1859 births 1927 deaths Finnish female artistic gymnasts Sportspeople from Helsinki {{Finland-artistic-gymnastics-bio-stub

References

Further reading