Kerstin Hesselgren (14 January 1872 – 19 August 1962) was a Swedish politician. Hesselgren became the first woman to be elected into the Upper House of the Swedish Parliament after

female 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 ...

was introduced in 1921. She was elected by suggestion of the Liberals with support from the

Social democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...

Biography

Hesselgren was born at Torsåker,

Gästrikland Gästrikland () is a historical province or ''landskap'' on the eastern coast of Sweden. It borders Uppland, Västmanland, Dalarna, Hälsingland and the Gulf of Bothnia. Gästrikland is the southernmost of the Norrland provinces. Other forms of ...

. She was the daughter of medical doctor Gustaf Alfred Hesselgren and Maria Margareta Wærn. She was the eldest of six children. She never married. She was educated by a governess at home and then at a girl school in Switzerland. In 1895, she graduated as a

feldsher According to the World Health Organization, a feldsher (german: Feldscher, pl, Felczer, cs, Felčar, russian: фельдшер, sv, Fältskär, Finnish: ''Välskäri'') is a health care professional who provides various medical services limit ...

in Uppsala; in 1896. The following year she led the School of Domestic Science in Stockholm. Whilst on leave she qualified as a

Sanitary Inspector Environmental Health Officers (also known as Public Health Inspectors or Environmental Health Practitioners) are responsible for carrying out measures for protecting public health, including administering and enforcing legislation related to enviro ...

from Bedford college in 1905 and left the college and her job in 1906.

Early career

Kerstin Hesselgren worked as a sanitary-inspector in Stockholm from 1912 to 1934 and school kitchen inspector from 1909 to 1934. Hesselgren had originally wished to be a physician, but her weak constitution had made her regarded unfit for this profession. Instead, she educated herself for the profession of Sanitary Inspector, to be able to focus on better health conditions through inspection and improvement of the living conditions in the capital, which were, at that time, appalling for the working classes. She did manage to introduce improvements, which made her respected in political circles. She was chairperson of the Swedish School Teachers Society from 1906 to 1913. She was management director of the Women's Work Environment Inspection from 1913 to 1934, and was also one of the founders of the magazine ''

Tidevarvet ''Tidevarvet'' (Swedish: ''The Epoch'') was a weekly political and feminist magazine existed between November 1923 and December 1936 in Stockholm, Sweden. History and profile ''Tidevarvet'' was established in 1923. The first issue appeared on ...

'' which was launched in 1923. In July 1925, Hesselgren attended and spoke at the First International Conference of Women in Science, Industry and Commerce held in London, organised by

Caroline Haslett Dame Caroline Harriet Haslett DBE, JP (17 August 1895 – 4 January 1957) was an English electrical engineer, electricity industry administrator and champion of women's rights. She was the first secretary of the Women's Engineering Society an ...

and the British

Women's Engineering Society The Women's Engineering Society is a United Kingdom professional learned society and networking body for women engineers, scientists and technologists. It was the first professional body set up for women working in all areas of engineering, pred ...

. From 1906 onward, she received a number of political assignments.

Politician

Hesselgren was given the

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 1918, and in 1921 she became one of the five first women to be elected to the Swedish Parliament after the introduction of women's suffrage alongside Nelly Thüring (Social Democrat), Agda Östlund (Social Democrat)

Elisabeth Tamm Elisabeth Tamm (30 June 1880, at the manor Fogelstad in Julita, Södermanlands län – 23 September 1958) was a Swedish liberal politician and women's rights activist. She was known in the parliament as ''Tamm i Fogelstad'' ("Tamm of Fogel ...

(liberal) and Bertha Wellin (Conservative) in the Lower Chamber. Hesselgren was alone in the Upper Chamber and thereby became the first woman there. She was a liberal from 1922 to 1923 and from 1937 to 1944 and Independent from 1923 to 1937. Until 1934, however, she formally labeled herself as belonging of no particular party in parliament, because she had been elected with the support by two parties. She was Vice Chairman of the second legislation committee of the parliament from 1939 to 1944, and also in this capacity the first of her gender in Sweden. Kerstin Hesselgren, being the first of her gender in parliament, regarded herself to be the spokesperson of females in the Upper Chamber. Hesselgren was active within gender and social issues; she worked for the access of all political positions and equal

salary A salary is a form of periodic payment from an employer to an employee, which may be specified in an employment contract. It is contrasted with piece wages, where each job, hour or other unit is paid separately, rather than on a periodic basis. ...

for both sexes, for the legalisation of

sex education Sex education, also known as sexual education, sexuality education or sex ed, is the instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, including emotional relations and responsibilities, human sexual anatomy, Human sexual activity, sexual acti ...

and

birth control Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth contr ...

and to lower the punishment for

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

. She was well known and received a lot of attention for these issues. Many of her ideas were inspired by her mentor, the politician

Emilia Broomé Emilia Augusta Clementina Broomé, née ''Lothigius'' (13 January 1866 – 2 June 1925), was a Swedish politician (liberal), feminist and peace activist. She was the first woman in the Swedish legislative assembly (1914). Life Emilia Broomé ...

, and could be found already among the ideas of Bromée. Hesselgren died in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

at the age of 90. The

University of Gothenburg The University of Gothenburg ( sv, Göteborgs universitet) is a university in Sweden's second largest city, Gothenburg. Founded in 1891, the university is the third-oldest of the current Swedish universities and with 37,000 students and 6000 st ...

established the Kerstin Hesselgren Visiting Professorship in her memory. It is awarded to outstanding female researchers in the social sciences or humanities.Lundberg, Frida (11 February 2010)
"Brittisk genusforskare på Kerstin Hesselgrenprofessuren"
Nationella sekretariatet för genusforskning, Göteborgs universitet. Retrieved 28 May 2015 .

References

* Stig Hadenius, Torbjörn Nilsson & Gunnar Åselius (1996). Sveriges historia. Borås: Bonnier Albs. . * ''Tvåkammarriksdagen 1867-1970'' (Almqvist & Wiksell International 1990), band 4, s. 96-97
Nordisk familjebok / Uggleupplagan. 36. Supplement. Globe - Kövess

Kerstin Hesselgren, urn:sbl:12947, Svenskt biografiskt lexikon (art av Ruth Hamrin-Thorell), hämtad 2015-05-02.
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Biography

Early career

Politician

See also

References