Miina Sillanpää (originally Vilhelmiina Riktig, born 4 June 1866 – died 3 April 1952) was a Finnish politician. She served as Deputy Minister of Social Affairs in 1926-1927. She was

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 ...

's first female minister and a key figure in the workers' movement. In 2016, the Finnish government made 1 October an official

flag flying day A flag flying day is a day, when it is decreed, either officially or by tradition, that the national flag should be hoisted by every official agency in the country and private citizens and corporations are also recommended to fly the national flag, ...

in honour of Sillanpää. She was involved in the preparation of Finland's first Municipal Homemaking Act.

Life

Sillanpää was born in

Jokioinen Jokioinen ( sv, Jockis) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Tavastia Proper region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The municipality is unilingually Fin ...

, during the famine years, to peasants Juho and Leena (née Roth) Riktig, who had nine children. She started her work career at the age of twelve at the

Forssa Forssa is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located almost in the centre of a triangle defined by the three largest major cities in Finland (Helsinki, Turku and Tampere), in the Tavastia Proper region, and which is crossed by Highway 2 ...

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...

factory, and later in the Jokioinen

nail Nail or Nails may refer to: In biology * Nail (anatomy), toughened protective protein-keratin (known as alpha-keratin, also found in hair) at the end of an animal digit, such as fingernail * Nail (beak), a plate of hard horny tissue at the tip ...

factory. At the age of 18 she moved to

Porvoo Porvoo (; sv, Borgå ; la, Borgoa) is a city and a municipality in the Uusimaa region of Finland, situated on the southern coast about east of the city border of Helsinki and about from the city centre. Porvoo was one of the six medieval to ...

to work as a maid and changed her name from Vilhelmiina Riktig to Miina Sillanpää. In 1898 she started and three years later she became the director of the ''Servants' Association''. She held this position for about 50 years. From 1900 to 1915 she worked as caretaker of the Helsinki Household Workers' Association's Servants' Home and Employment Agency. During this time in 1906 Finland became the first European country to allow all women to vote and the first country in the world to allow women to run for office. In 1907 she became one of the first 19 women to be elected to parliament in the world. Sillanpää worked as inspector of eateries and cafés of Osuusliike Elanto from 1916 to 1932 and as secretary of the Social Democratic Party Working Women's Association from 1932 to 1936. Sillanpää did not have much of a school education – she had only received instruction from

itinerant teacher Itinerant teachers (also called "visiting" or "peripatetic" teachers) are traveling schoolteachers. They are sometimes specialized to work in the trades, healthcare, or the field of special education, sometimes providing individual tutoring. His ...

s (Finnish , literally "itinerant schools") and at a factory school. Sillanpää was awarded the honorary title of '' talousneuvos'' in 1939, and in 1949 she received the

Finnish Cultural Foundation Finnish Cultural Foundation ( fi, Suomen Kulttuurirahasto) is a private nonprofit foundation dedicated to the promotion of culture and science in Finland. The foundation's assets are about 1.1 billion euros, which makes it one of the largest priva ...

's award for merit for her life's work from

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Paasikivi Juho Kusti Paasikivi (; 27 November 1870 – 14 December 1956) was the seventh president of Finland (1946–1956). Representing the Finnish Party until its dissolution in 1918 and then the National Coalition Party, he also served as Prime Minister ...

As a social democrat

Miina Sillanpää was not a political theoretician, instead she was active in social democratic association activity. She especially campaigned for the rights of working and single women. In the 1930s, she was very active in establishing

women's shelter A women's shelter, also known as a women's refuge and battered women's shelter, is a place of temporary protection and support for women escaping domestic violence and intimate partner violence of all forms. The term is also frequently used to ...

s (''ensikoti''). She was a member of the party activity group of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

from 1918 to 1919 and from 1933 to 1940, and also worked as chairwoman of the Social Democratic Women's Association and the Social Democratic Working Women's Association. Miina Sillanpää did not participate in the

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

of 1918; together with

Väinö Tanner Väinö Alfred Tanner (; 12 March 1881 – 19 April 1966; surname until 1895 ''Thomasson'') was a leading figure in the Social Democratic Party of Finland, and a pioneer and leader of the cooperative movement in Finland. He was Prime Minister ...

and Matti Paasivuori she opposed both the Red and White Guards and urged for peace in Finland..

Member of parliament

Miina Sillanpää was one of the first nineteen female members of the

Parliament of Finland The Parliament of Finland ( ; ) is the unicameral and supreme legislature of Finland, founded on 9 May 1906. In accordance with the Constitution of Finland, sovereignty belongs to the people, and that power is vested in the Parliament. The ...

, who were elected in 1907. She served as a member of parliament for a total of 38 years: 1907–1911, 1913–1917, 1919–1933 and 1936–1948. Upon election as the deputy Minister of Social Affairs in the

government of 1926–1927, she became Finland's first female minister. Sillanpää acted as an official elector of the President of Finland in 1925, 1931, 1937, 1940 and 1943.

Legacy

Sillanpää died in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

, aged 85. In 2016 The Finnish government made 1 October an official day to raise the Finnish flag in honour of Sillanpää.

Journalistic career

Sillanpää was also a

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

. She worked as editor of the ''Palvelijatar'' ("female servant") magazine from 1905 to 1906, in the ''Työläisnainen'' ("working woman") magazine from 1907 to 1916, and in the ''Toveritar'' ("female comrade") magazine from 1922 to 1943.

Literature

* * Oma Mäkikossa: ''Yhteiskunnalle omistettu elämä. Miina Sillanpään elämän ja työn vaiheita.'' ( Tammi 1947) * Martta Salmela-Järvinen: ''Miina Sillanpää, legenda jo eläessään.'' ( WSOY-Porvoo 1973) * ''Miina Sillanpään bibliografia.'' (Publications of the Miina Sillanpää foundation A:1. Vammalan Kirjapaina 1989)

References