Liisi Kivioja (10 January 1859 – 30 October 1925) was a Finnish educator, politician and banker. A member of the

Finnish Party The Finnish Party ( fi, Suomalainen Puolue) was a Fennoman conservative political party in the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland and independent Finland. Born out of Finland's language strife in the 1860s, the party sought to improve the position ...

, she was elected to

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

in 1907 as one of the first group of female MPs, remaining in parliament until 1910.

Biography

Kivioja was born in

Siikajoki Siikajoki is a municipality of Finland. It is part of the North Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbour municipalities are Hailuoto, Liminka, Lum ...

in 1859.Liisi Kivioja
Parliament of Finland She worked as a primary school teacher in

Vähäkyrö Vähäkyrö ( sv, Lillkyro) is a former municipality of Finland and an exclave of the city of Vaasa since January 1, 2013. It was located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Ostrobothnia region. The municipality had a population ...

in 1881 and 1882, and then in

Oulunsalo Oulunsalo ( sv, Oulunsalo, also formerly ) is former municipality in the region of Northern Ostrobothnia, in Finland. Along with Haukipudas, Kiiminki and Yli-Ii it lost its municipal status and was merged with the city of Oulu on 1 January 2013. ...

between 1882 and 1888. She married Aapeli Kivioja in 1888, and the couple lived in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

between 1891 and 1897. She returned to Finland and worked as a housekeeper and primary school teacher. As a member of the Finnish Party, Kivioja contested the 1907 elections and was one of 19 women elected to parliament. She was re-elected in

1908 Events January * January 1 – The British ''Nimrod'' Expedition led by Ernest Shackleton sets sail from New Zealand on the ''Nimrod'' for Antarctica. * January 3 – A total solar eclipse is visible in the Pacific Ocean, and is the 46 ...

and

1909 Events January–February * January 4 – Explorer Aeneas Mackintosh of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition escaped death by fleeing across ice floes. * January 7 – Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama. * Januar ...

, serving until February 1910. During her time in parliament she sat on the Grand Committee, the Municipal Committee and the Committee on Workers' Affairs. After leaving parliament, she served as director of a trade school for elderly blind people in

Kuopio Kuopio (, ) is a Finnish city and municipality located in the region of Northern Savonia. It has a population of , which makes it the most populous municipality in Finland. Along with Joensuu, Kuopio is one of the major urban, economic, and cult ...

between 1910 and 1918, and then managed the

Kalajoki Kalajoki (; literally translated the "fish river") is a coastal town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the immediate vicinity of the Gulf of Bothnia in the province of Oulu and is part of the Northern Ostrobothnia region. The town has ...

branch of the

Kansallis-Osake-Pankki Kansallis-Osake-Pankki (KOP) was a Finnish commercial bank operating from 1889 to 1995. It was created by the fennoman movement as a Finnish language alternative to the largely Swedish language bank, Suomen Yhdyspankki (''Swedish: Föreningsbank ...

until her death in 1925.The first women Members of Parliament in Finland, 1907-1908
University of Helsinki

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kivioja, Liisi 1859 births 1925 deaths People from Siikajoki People from Oulu Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) Finnish Party politicians Members of the Parliament of Finland (1907–1908) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1908–1909) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1909–1910) Finnish schoolteachers Expatriates from the Russian Empire in the United States Women members of the Parliament of Finland Finnish bankers 20th-century Finnish women politicians Finnish expatriates in the United States