Hilma Sohvi Räsänen (28 March 1877 – 20 January 1955) was a Finnish educator and politician. A member of the Agrarian League, 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. She remained an MP until the following year.

Biography

Räsänen was born in

Kuopio Kuopio ( , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of North Savo. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Kuopio is approximately , while the Kuopio sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately . It is the mos ...

in 1877.Hilma Räsänen
Parliament of Finland Between 1900 and 1907 she worked as a primary school teacher in

Sippola Sippola is a List of former municipalities of Finland, former municipality of Finland in the former Kymi Province, now in Kymenlaakso. In 1975, it united with neighboring Anjala to form Anjalankoski, which was later merged into Kouvola in 2009. ...

Kuopion maalaiskunta Kuopion maalaiskunta was a municipality in eastern Finland in Kuopio Province. The municipality was disbanded in early 1969. Most of the area of Kuopion maalaiskunta was connected to the city of Kuopio, but two villages of Kuopion maalaiskunta, K ...

Jämsä Jämsä () is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the Central Finland region, about southwest of Jyväskylä. The municipality has a population of (), which makes it the second most populous town of the Central Finland after ...

and

Viipuri Province Viipuri Province was a Historical provinces of Finland, historical province of Finland from 1812 to 1945. History The predecessor of the province was Vyborg Governorate, which was established in 1744 from territories ceded by the Swedish Empi ...

. She was also a speaker for the

Temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting Temperance (virtue), temperance or total abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and ...

and the

Naisasialiitto Unioni Naisasialiitto Unioni (Finnish) or Kvinnosaksförbundet Unionen (Swedish), sometimes referred to in English as the League of Finnish Feminists, is a non-profit Finnish women's rights organization which was established in 1892. Since 1904 it has b ...

.The first women Members of Parliament in Finland, 1907-1908
University of Helsinki She contested the 1907 elections on the Agrarian League's list in East Vyborg and was one of 19 women elected to parliament. However, she lost her seat in the

1908 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1908. Africa *1908 Southern Rhodesian Legislative Council election Australia * 1908 Adelaide by-election * 1908 Queensland state election Europe *1908 Bulgarian parliamentary election *1908 Croatian ...

. During her time in parliament she sat on the Grand Committee. After leaving parliament, she worked as a primary school teacher in Helsinki between 1908 and 1917, after which she became a writer. She also managed a women's rest home in

Askola Askola () is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Uusimaa region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Monninkylä is the largest village of the municipality ...

. She died in

Vihti Vihti (; ) is a municipality in Finland, located in the southern interior of the country. Vihti is situated in the Uusimaa region. The population of Vihti is approximately . It is the most populous Municipalities of Finland, municipality in Fin ...

in 1955.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Räsänen, Hilma 1877 births 1955 deaths Politicians from Kuopio Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) Centre Party (Finland) politicians Members of the Parliament of Finland (1907–1908) Finnish schoolteachers Women members of the Parliament of Finland 20th-century Finnish women politicians Finnish temperance activists