Life
Johanna Hedén was born in a poor family. Her mother died in childbirth because of an incompetent midwife. Her father denied her education because of her gender and provided her a position as a domestic in Stockholm. Her employer, however, persuaded her brother to allow her to study. Hedén took her license as a midwife in 1858, after which she also trained as an apothecary. At that time, feldsher- and barber was the title for a surgeon who performed less complicated surgical operations. Johanna Hedén made her oath and took her exam as a barber- and feldsher surgeon at the ''Sundhetskollegium'' on 7 August 1863, thereby formally making her the first trained female surgeon in Sweden, granting her the permission to be professionally active in this field. She herself formally commented on this: "I took my exam as a feldsher to great discontent of my male colleagues, and after this I practiced at industrial estates and often assisted at injuries".Pia Höjeberg: ''Jordemor'' (2011) In 1867, Hedén became a teacher at the obstetrics institution i Gothenburg. Johanna Hedén founded ''Göteborgs Barnmorskesällskap'' (Gothenburg Midwifery Association) in 1885, which was the first union for women in her country; ''Svenska Barnmorskeförbundet'' (Swedish Midwifery Association) in 1886, and the paper ''Jordemodern'' for midwives in 1888. Hedén was married and had a daughter who, however, died at the age of one in 1877.Legacy
A street in Gothenburg was named after Johanna Hedén. There is a statue of Johanna Hedén by Inga-Louise Lindgren in front of the Östra Hospital in Gothenburg.References
Sources
* Johanna Maria Bowall i Wilhelmina Stålberg: ''Anteckningar om svenska qvinnor'' (1864) * Idun 1895. Biografi om Johanna Hedén * Pia Höjeberg: ''Jordemor'' (2011)Further reading
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Heden, Johanna 1837 births 1912 deaths Swedish midwives Barbers 19th-century Swedish people 19th-century Swedish women