Hið íslenska kvenfélag was an Icelandic women's organization, founded in

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

in 1894.Auður Styrkársdóttir, „Hvaða konur voru öflugar snemma í kvennabaráttunni aðrar en Bríet Bjarnhéðinsdóttir?“, Vísindavefurinn The purpose of the society was to work for the improvement in

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

, and inform women of already existing rights and encourage them to use them. The society was founded by a group of educated and wealthy women after the king had turned down a request to found a university in Iceland, and one of its main goals was to improve educational and cultural possibilities for women. It was not the first women's organization in Iceland - that was the charity organization

Thorvaldsensfélagið Thorvaldsensfélagið was an Icelandic women's organization, founded in Reykjavík in 1875. It has been called the first women's organization in Iceland. It was a charity organization for wealthy women. Þórunn Jónassen Þórunn Jónassen, al ...

in 1875 - but it was the first women's organization devoted to women's rights in Iceland and somewhat of a starting point of the women's movement. It worked alongside

Kvenréttindafélag Íslands The Icelandic Women's Rights Association () is the largest women's rights organization in Iceland and works for "women’s rights and the equal status of all genders in all areas of society." The association stands for an inclusive, intersectional ...

to introduced women's suffrage.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hid islenska kvenfelag 1894 establishments Women's organizations based in Iceland 1894 in Iceland Women's rights in Iceland