Gertrud Virginia Adelborg (10 September 1853 in Karlskrona – 25 January 1942) was a Swedish teacher, feminist and leading member of the women's rights movement.
Biography
Gertrud Adelborg was born at
Karlskrona
Karlskrona (, , ) is a locality and the seat of Karlskrona Municipality, Blekinge County, Sweden with a population of 66,675 in 2018. It is also the capital of Blekinge County. Karlskrona is known as Sweden's only baroque city and is host to Swed ...
in
Blekinge County
Blekinge County ( sv, Blekinge län) is a county or '' län'' in the south of Sweden. It borders the Counties of Skåne, Kronoberg, Kalmar and the Baltic Sea. The capital is Karlskrona. It is the smallest of the present administrative countie ...
, Sweden. She was the daughter of
Naval Captain and nobleman Bror Jacob Adelborg (1816–1865) and his wife Hedvig Catharina af Uhr (1820–1903). She was the sister of book illustrator
Ottilia Adelborg
Eva Ottilia Adelborg (6 December 1855 – 19 March 1936) was a Swedish children's book illustrator, comics artist and author and the founder of a school for lace making. A literary award, the Ottilia Adelborg Prize, was established in her honor ...
(1855–1936) and textile artist
Maria Adelborg (1849–1940). She never married. Adelborg was educated by a governess at home and in girls' schools. She worked as a teacher from 1874 to 1879, and was employed at
Svea Court of Appeal
Svea Court of Appeal ( sv, Svea hovrätt), located in Stockholm, is one of six appellate courts in the Swedish legal system. It is located in the Wrangel Palace, on Riddarholmen islet in Gamla Stan, the old town of Stockholm.
History
The Svea Co ...
(Swedish: ) from 1881–1883.
Adelborg was active within the Swedish women's movement and the struggle for
women's suffrage
Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...
. She worked for the bureau of the
Fredrika Bremer Association
The Fredrika Bremer Association ( sv, Fredrika Bremer Förbundet, abbreviated FBF) is the oldest women's rights organisation in Sweden. The association stands for an inclusive, intersectional and progressive liberal feminism, and advocates for wome ...
(FBF) from 1884 to 1907 (from 1886 as chairperson of the Stockholm chapter) and was a member of the central committee of FBF from 1897 to 1915. She initiated the FBF Country School for Women (Swedish: ) at
Rimforsa
Rimforsa is a locality situated in Kinda Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden with 2,238 inhabitants in 2010.
It is surrounded by a lot of forest and is approximately 40 km south of the city of Linköping
Linköping () is a city i ...
in
Östergötland
Östergötland (; English exonym: East Gothland) is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish) in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland and the Baltic Sea. In older English li ...
where she belonged to the school board from 1907 to 1921.
![Rösträttspetitionen](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/R%C3%B6str%C3%A4ttspetitionen.jpg)
In 1899, a delegation from the FBF presented a suggestion of women's suffrage to Prime Minister
Erik Gustaf Boström
Erik Gustaf Bernhard Boström (11 February 1842 – 21 February 1907) was a Swedish landowner and politician who was a member of the Swedish Parliament (1876–1907) and the longest-serving Prime Minister of Sweden of the 19th century. He ...
. The delegation was headed by
Agda Montelius
Agda Georgina Dorothea Alexandra Montelius née ''Reuterskiöld'' (23 April 1850 – 27 October 1920) was a Swedish philanthropist and feminist. She was a leading figure of the Swedish philanthropy, active for the struggle of women's suffrage, a ...
, accompanied by Adelborg, who had written the demand. This was the first time the Swedish women's movement themselves had officially presented a demand for suffrage.
Adelborg was a member of the central committee in the
National Association for Women's Suffrage (Swedish: , LKPR) from 1903 to 1906. In 1907, she headed the LKPR delegation which presented their demand to the monarch King
Oscar II of Sweden
Oscar II (Oscar Fredrik; 21 January 1829 – 8 December 1907) was King of Sweden from 1872 until his death in 1907 and King of Norway from 1872 to 1905.
Oscar was the son of King Oscar I and Queen Josephine. He inherited the Swedish and Norweg ...
himself. She reminded Oscar II of the reforms regarding women's rights which had been passed by his father King
Oscar I of Sweden
Oscar I (born Joseph François Oscar Bernadotte; 4 July 1799 – 8 July 1859) was King of Sweden and Norway from 8 March 1844 until his death. He was the second monarch of the House of Bernadotte.
The only child of King Charles XIV John, Oscar i ...
, and continued by expressing her hope that "the son of Oscar I would attach his name to a suggestion of women's suffrage".
[Barbro Hedwall (2011). Susanna Eriksson Lundqvist. red. ''Vår rättmätiga plats. Om kvinnornas kamp för rösträtt'' (Stockholm: Förlag Bonnier)] According to
Lydia Wahlström
''Lydia'' Katarina Wahlström (28 June 1869 – 2 June 1954) was a Swedish historian, author and feminist. She was one of the founders of the National Association for Women's Suffrage and its chairman in 1909–1911.
Life and career
Wahlst ...
: "as soon as the king heard the name of his father, his interest was awoken",
and Oscar II promised his support, but added that as a constitutional monarch he could not do much, and that the doubted the present government would. Adelborg's role within the suffrage work was described as important but less public: she took on secretarial tasks, made investigations, structured work and was the author of many of its publications and manifests.
Adelborg lived in retirement at
Gagnef
Gagnef () is the second largest locality situated in Gagnef Municipality, Dalarna County, Sweden with 1,049 inhabitants in 2010.
Gagnef consists of several small villages: The Church Village, Kyrkbyn, The Station Village, Stationsbyn, Moje, Moje ...
in
Dalarna County
Dalarna County ( sv, Dalarnas län) is a county or '' län'' in central Sweden (Svealand). It borders on the counties of Uppsala, Jämtland, Gävleborg, Västmanland, Örebro and Värmland. It also borders on the Norwegian counties of Hedmark ...
. She was awarded the Swedish Royal Medal of ''
Illis Quorum
''Illis quorum'' (''Illis quorum meruere labores'') (English: "For Those Whose Labors Have Deserved It"), is a gold medal awarded for outstanding contributions to Swedish culture, science or society.
The award was introduced in 1784 by King Gust ...
'' in 1907. Gertrud Adelborg died in 1942 and was buried in Gagnef.
References
Other sources
* Barbro Hedwall; Susanna Eriksson Lundqvist, red.(2011) ''Vår rättmätiga plats. Om kvinnornas kamp för rösträtt'' (Stockholm: Albert Bonniers Förlag) (Swedish)
*Walborg Hedberg; Louise Arosenius (1914
''Svenska kvinnor från skilda verksamhetsområden''(Stockholm: Albert Bonniers Förlag)
Further reading
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adelborg, Gertrud
1853 births
1942 deaths
People from Blekinge County
19th-century Swedish educators
19th-century Swedish nobility
Swedish suffragists
Swedish women's rights activists
Recipients of the Illis quorum