Hilda Vilhelmina Elfving (8 September 1827 – 8 January 1906) was a Swedish educator. Elfving was born and died in Stockholm. She was the daughter of Johan Isak Elfving,

lector Lector is Latin for one who reads, whether aloud or not. In modern languages it takes various forms, as either a development or a loan, such as french: lecteur, en, lector, pl, lektor and russian: лектор. It has various specialized uses. ...

at Stockholms gymnasium. She was the royal governess of Princess

Louise of Sweden Louise Josephine Eugenie of Sweden ( sv, Lovisa Josefina Eugenia; 31 October 1851 – 20 March 1926) was Queen of Denmark from 1906 until 1912 as the spouse of King Frederick VIII. Born into the House of Bernadotte, Louise was the only surviv ...

in 1857–1860.Elfving, släkter, urn:sbl:15977, Svenskt biografiskt lexikon, Retrieved 30 April 2014 Her father participated in the ''Course of Education for Women'' ( sv, Lärokursen för fruntimmer), which was held in Stockholm in 1859–1861 and replaced with the

Högre lärarinneseminariet The Royal Seminary, fully the Royal Advanced Female Teachers' Seminary ( sv, Kungliga Högre Lärarinneseminariet, abbreviated KHLS), was a normal school (teachers' college) in Stockholm, Sweden. It was active from 1861 until 1943. It was the fi ...

, where she became the first principal in 1861–1863. As principal, she made a trip to study the educational methods in Germany, Switzerland and France on governmental funds in 1862. During her period as principal, the school was described as still having the informal atmosphere common in girls' school, and her student

Lilly Engström Lilly Engström (1843–1921) was a Swedish women's rights activist and civil servant. In 1890, she became the first female member of a Board of education in Sweden, after a reform the year prior, in which women were allowed to serve on governmental ...

was later to describe her: :"She attended our lessons with her sewing basket, and was always surrounded with an atmosphere of still joy and harmony.".Heckscher, Ebba, Några drag ur den svenska flickskolans historia: under fleres medverkan samlade, Norstedt & söner, Stockholm, 1914 She was succeeded as principal by

Jane Miller Thengberg Jane Miller Thengberg (2 May 1822 – 22 March 1902) was a Swedish-Scottish teacher. She founded and managed the girls' school Klosterskolan in Uppsala from 1855 to 1863 and was the principal of the Högre lärarinneseminariet (Advanced Seminar ...

in 1863. She married the merchant Pontus Ferdinand Kobb and moved to Gothenburg in the same year.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elfving, Hilda 1827 births 1906 deaths 19th-century Swedish educators Swedish governesses Governesses to the Swedish monarchy 19th-century women educators