Early life and education
Karolina Widerström was born inMedical career
Widerström wanted women and girls to know more about their own bodies, to dress more healthily, and to receive the same rights and possibilities as men. She was especially active within gynecology and women's health. Her best-known work within her field was ''Kvinnohygien'' ('Women's hygiene'), which was first published in 1899, and reprinted in seven editions until 1932.Activism
Concerned for women's health issued, she was a strong supporter of the Swedish Dress Reform Association and a vocal force in writing medical articles advocating against tight laced corsets, which at this point in time was a serious health issue.Bagerius, Henric.. Korsettkriget : modeslaveri och kvinnokamp vid förra sekelskiftet (Första utgåvan, första tryckningen). . OCLC 1112090542 From about 1900, Widerström was active in the struggle to abolish the so-called reglementation of prostitutes, that is to say the forced registration and regular examination for venereal diseases of prostitutes, a system highly debated among women's rights activists at the time, which organized in the '' Svenska Federationen'' to oppose it.Political engagement
Karolina Widström was elected to the Stockholm city council in 1912 for the Liberals, and served until 1915. She was elected chairwoman of the Swedish Society for Woman Suffrage in 1918, one year before the women suffrage was granted in Sweden in 1919, and became its last chairwoman when she stepped down after the organisation was dissolved in 1921, when the purpose of the organisation was fulfilled and both genders exercised the right to vote in the 1921 election.See also
* Charlotte Yhlen, first female Swedish physician who graduated from a university (though in this case, abroad) * Hedda Andersson, second female physician in Sweden * Emmy Rappe, first trained professional Swedish nurse * Astrid Björkman, Sweden's first female chief physician and hospital manager * Anna Stecksén, first Swedish woman to defend a doctoral thesis in medicineReferences
Sources
* Lena Hammarberg, ''Karolina Widerström – sexualreformator och föreningskvinna'' * ''Ny svensk historia: Oscar II och hans tid, 1872–1907'', Erik Lindorm 1936 s.231 * ''Sveriges befolkning 1890'', (Further reading
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Widerstrom, Karolina 1856 births 1949 deaths Swedish gynaecologists Women gynaecologists Swedish suffragists Local politicians in Sweden 19th-century Swedish physicians 20th-century Swedish physicians 20th-century Swedish women politicians 20th-century women physicians 19th-century Swedish women physicians 20th-century Swedish women physicians People from Helsingborg First women physicians