Signe Amalia Häggman (29 April 1863,

Jyväskylä Jyväskylä () is a city and municipality in Finland in the western part of the Finnish Lakeland. It is located about 150 km north-east from Tampere, the third largest city in Finland; and about 270 km north from Helsinki, the capital of ...

-26 June 1911,

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 ...

), was a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

pedagogue. She is regarded as a

pioneer Pioneer commonly refers to a settler who migrates to previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited land. In the United States pioneer commonly refers to an American pioneer, a person in American history who migrated west to join in settling and de ...

within the

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorat ...

of disabled people in Finland.kansallisbiografia Suomen kansallisbiografia (National Biography of Finland)

Life

Häggman was educated at Jyväskylä seminary and worked as a teacher in Uleåborg and

Lapua Lapua (; sv, Lappo) is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located next to the Lapua River in the region of South Ostrobothnia. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The mun ...

. In 1889, she was given a scholarship from the state to study the physical education of disabled people in Copenhagen. On her return to Finland, she was appointed as the first manager and educator of the newly founded professional school for disabled people in Helsinki, and served in the position from 1890 until 1911. During the period, she was in effect responsible for the education of disabled people in Finland.

References

kansallisbiografia Suomen kansallisbiografia (National Biography of Finland)
1863 births 1911 deaths 19th-century Finnish educators Swedish-speaking Finns {{Finland-bio-stub