Svenska fruntimmersskolan i Helsingfors ('Swedish Women's School of Helsinki') or only Svenska fruntimmersskolan ('Swedish Women's School') was a

Girls' School Single-sex education, also known as single-gender education and gender-isolated education, is the practice of conducting education with male and female students attending separate classes, perhaps in separate buildings or schools. The practice of ...

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

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 ...

, active from 1844 to 1974. Alongside its equivalent in

Åbo Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a List of cities and towns in Finland, city and former Capital city, capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura (Archipelago Sea), Aura River, in the region of Southwest Finland, Finland Proper ...

( fi, Turku), '' Svenska fruntimmersskolan i Åbo'' (1844–1955), it was the first state school for females in Finland. It allowed pupils of both genders in 1929, and was dissolved in 1974.

History

The sister schools of Åbo and Helsinki were founded as a result of a debate about women's education in Finland. Already in 1793,

Jakob Tengström Jacob Tengström (4 December 1755 - 26 December 1832) was a Finnish prelate who became the first Archbishop of Turku and Finland. Biography Tengström was born on 4 December 1755 in Kokkola, Finland. He was the nephew of Anders Chydenius and the ...

in '' Åbo Tidningar'' had criticized the schools for girls in Finland for being shallow and useless, and called for them to be given a more useful education. At that point, the only schools open to females were temporary schools managed by single women who educated upper class students in various accomplishments, such as French and music, with the purpose of becoming "ladies", wives and mothers, such as those of Christina Krook,

Anna Salmberg Anna Salmberg, née ''Brinck'' (1788, Copenhagen – 1868, Åbo), was a Finnish educator. She was the founder and manager of '' Salmbergska flickpensionen'' ('Salmberg Pension for Girls'), one of the most famed and fashionable educational instituti ...

and

Sara Wacklin Sara Elizabeth Wacklin (26 May 1790 – 28 January 1846) was a Swedish-speaking Finnish educator and writer. She was a pioneer in educating girls, and can be regarded as the first female university graduate in Finland. She can also be regarded ...

. This debate resulted in the decision that girls should be included in the reform of the school system in 1843 and in the following year the ''Svenska fruntimmersskolan i Helsingfors'' was founded in Helsinki and the '' Svenska fruntimmersskolan i Åbo'' in Åbo. The ''Svenska fruntimmersskolan i Helsingfors'' was a pioneer institution.Siegberg, Arthur: ''Den högre kvinnobildningen i Finland, dess utveckling och mål.'', W. C. Fabritius & Sonner, Kr.a. Under

Elisabeth Blomqvist Elisabeth Blomqvist (1827–1901) was a Finnish educator. She was the principal of the state girl school '' Svenska fruntimmersskolan i Helsingfors'' (Swedish Girl School of Helsinki) between 1864 and 1898. She was a pioneer within women's educ ...

, it gradually transformed into a secondary school with the purpose of preparing women for university studies, when they were opened to women.

Principals

* 1844-1863 Amalia Ertman * 1865-1898

Well known teachers

* Naima Jakobson, writer * Gunnar Marklund, botanist * Karin Westman, school leader

Alumni

* Hanna Ongelin, writer, woman's rights * Aline Pipping, translator * Elsa Snellman, artist *

Ellen Thesleff Ellen Thesleff (5 October 1869 – 12 January 1954) was an expressionist Finnish painter, regarded as one of the leading Finnish modernist painters. Thesleff was born in Helsinki, the eldest daughter of five siblings and her father was an amateur ...

, painter * Maria Wiik, painter

References

{{reflist Educational institutions disestablished in 1974 Defunct schools in Finland Educational institutions established in 1844 Girls' schools in Finland 19th century in Helsinki Women in Helsinki