
Helga Frideborg "Frida" Maria Stéenhoff, née ''Wadström'' (11 December 1865, in
Stockholm
Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...
– 22 June 1945, in Stockholm), was a Swedish writer and women's rights activist. She was a leading participant of the public debate of gender equality and a contributor of several radical progressive publications. She was engaged in the
women suffrage
A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl.
Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional uteruses ...
movement and several humanitarian organisations.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, she participated in anti-fascist work. Frida Stéenhoff was a leading central figure of the
free love
Free love is a social movement that accepts all forms of love. The movement's initial goal was to separate the State (polity), state from sexual and romantic matters such as marriage, birth control, and adultery. It stated that such issues we ...
movement in Sweden, for
birth control
Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth control only be ...
, sex and romance without marriage, and critical toward the institution of marriage, subjects for which she became controversially known by her
debut novel
A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to pu ...
: ''Lejonets unge'' (Lion's Child) from 1896. She is credited with having introduced the modern concept of feminism in Sweden with her publication ''Feminismens moral'' (Feminist Morality) from 1903.
She used the male pseudonym Harald Gate. She was among the contributors to the feminist magazine ''
Tidevarvet''.
Frida Stéenhoff was born to the chaplain Carl Bernhard Philonegros Wadström (1831–1918) and Helga Westdahl (1838–1879) and the sister of the suffragist and writer
Ellen Hagen
Ellen Helga Louise Hagen (''née'' Wadström; 1873–1967) was a Swedish suffragette, women's rights activist and politician. She was a member of the National Association for Women's Suffrage, the chairperson of Liberala kvinnor (Liberal Women ...
. In 1887 she married the physician Gotthilf Stéenhoff.
Works
Novels and serials
* 1902 - ''Det heliga arvet''
* 1904 - ''Öknen''
* 1911 - ''Kring den heliga elden''
* 1915 - ''Ljusa bragder och mörka dåd''
* 1918 - ''Filippas öden''
* 1937 - ''Objektiv stats- och könsmoral''
Plays
* 1896 - ''Lejonets unge''
* 1898 - ''Sin nästas hustru''
* 1900 - ''Ärkefienden''
* 1907 - ''Stridbar ungdom''
* 1908 - ''Den vita duvans samfund''
* 1910 - ''Den smala vägen''
* 1911 - ''Kärlekens rival''
Essays and other publications
* 1903 - Feminismens moral
* 1904 - Den reglementerade prostitutionen
* 1905 - Humanitet och barnalstring
* 1905 - Varför skola kvinnorna vänta
* 1907 - Fosterlandskänslan
* 1908 - Penningen och kärleken
* 1909 - Riktlinjerna i mitt författaskap
* 1910 - Teatern och livet
* 1910 - Det nya folket
* 1912 - Minfru, fru eller fröken
* 1912 - Äktenskap och demokrati
* 1913 - Könsslaveri
* 1915 - Krigets herrar - världens herrar
* 1924 - Samtal med en borgmästare om prostitutionen (Tidevarvet 1924(2):8, s. 4, 5, 6)
* 1924 - Ellen Key och Nikodemus (Tidevarvet 1924(2):49, s. 1, 6)
* 1925 - Babels förbistring: angående befolkningsproblem ... (Tidevarvet 1925(3):7, s. 3)
* 1925 - Bör nutidsmänniskan tro på drömmar? (Tidevarvet 1925(3):14, s. 4)
* 1925 - Vad unnar han henne? (Tidevarvet 1925(3):17, s. 4 )
* 2007 - Blott ett annat namn för ljus: Tre texter av Frida Stéenhoff (innehåller Feminismens moral, Ett sällsamt öde och Lejonets unge)
See also
*
Alfhild Agrell
*
Agnes von Krusenstjerna
*
Sedlighetsdebatten
References
* Ahlund, Claes, "Krig och kultur i konservativ och radikal belysning. Annie Åkerhielm och Frida Stéenhoff från sekelskiftet till första världskriget", Samlaren, Uppsala, årg.126 (2005), s. 97-150
H F (Frida) M Stéenhoff, urn:sbl:20046, Svenskt biografiskt lexikon (art av Ellinor Melander), hämtad 2016-01-03.
Further reading
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steenhoff, Frida
1865 births
1945 deaths
20th-century Swedish journalists
Swedish women's rights activists
19th-century Swedish women writers
Pseudonymous women writers
20th-century Swedish women writers
19th-century pseudonymous writers
20th-century pseudonymous writers
Journalists from Stockholm