
Hedvig ''Maria'' Reddita Cederschiöld (29 June 1856,
Stockholm – 19 October 1935, Stockholm), was a Swedish journalist and women's rights activist. She was the chief editor of the foreign office at ''
Aftonbladet
''Aftonbladet'' (, lit. "The evening paper") is a Swedish daily newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden. It is one of the largest daily newspapers in the Nordic countries.
History and profile
The newspaper was founded by Lars Johan Hi ...
'' in 1909–1921, and the first woman in Sweden to hold such a position at a Swedish newspaper. She was also a secretary and vice chairperson of the Swedish branch of the
International Council of Women
The International Council of Women (ICW) is a women's rights organization working across national boundaries for the common cause of advocating human rights for women. In March and April 1888, women leaders came together in Washington, D.C., wit ...
.
Life
Maria Cederschiöld was born to the official and noble Gustaf Cederschiöld (1812–1860) and Elsa Vilhelmina (Mimmy) Borg (1820–1889) and was the sister of the linguist
Gustaf Cederschiöld. After the death of her father in 1860, the family lived under reduced circumstances in the home of her maternal grandmother. She studied at the
Statens normalskola för flickor in 1864–1870 and the
Wallinska flickskolan in 1872–74.
In 1874, she took her ''
Studentexamen
Studentexamen (Swedish for "students' examination" or "students' degree"), earlier also ''mogenhetsexamen'' ("maturity examination") was the name of the university entrance examination in Sweden from the 17th century to 1968. From 1862 to 1968, ...
'' at the
Gymnasium (school) in Stockholm. As there were yet no schools open to women which had the right to issue such a degree (that reform was introduced later that year), she and the four other female students studied at home and then attended the exam with the regular students at the gymnasium for boys. One of the three other girls were her lifelong friend,
Ellen Fries
Ellen Fries (23 September 1855 – 31 March 1900) was a Swedish feminist and writer. She became the first female Ph.D. in Sweden in 1883. She was also involved in founding several women's organizations.
Biography
She born in 1855 at Rödsleg ...
.
Because of economic reasons, she was not able to follow her wish to study at the university after exam, as the family preferred to finance the studies of her brother. Therefore, she worked as a governess in 1874–1876, as a translator in 1876–1877 and as a teacher at
Wallinska flickskolan in 1877–1884. Despite being described as a beauty who attracted a great deal of attention in the 1870s, she never married. In fact, at one point, she was reportedly in love with
Knut Wicksell
Johan Gustaf Knut Wicksell (December 20, 1851 – May 3, 1926) was a leading Swedish economist of the Stockholm school. His economic contributions would influence both the Keynesian and Austrian schools of economic thought. He was married to ...
, but found him too radical. Maria Cederschiöld was described as an intelligent, gifted and with a strong will, but also as introvert and reserved.
On 4 November 1884, Maria Cederschiöld was employed at
Aftonbladet
''Aftonbladet'' (, lit. "The evening paper") is a Swedish daily newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden. It is one of the largest daily newspapers in the Nordic countries.
History and profile
The newspaper was founded by Lars Johan Hi ...
. She was given the post partially through the influence of
Anna Hierta-Retzius
Anna Wilhelmina Hierta-Retzius, née ''Hierta'' (24 August 1841 – 21 December 1924), was a Swedish women's rights activist and philanthropist. She was the co-founder and secretary of the ''Married Woman's Property Rights Association'' (1873), fo ...
, a major stockholder at Aftonbladet and married to the editor at the time. She made translations, wrote foreign news articles and reviewed literature as a critic. In 1909, she succeeded
Ernst Wallis as head of the foreign news department, and was given the responsibility for all foreign articles. She was the first woman journalist in Sweden in such a position and thereby a pioneer. In 1911, she became a member of the
Swedish Publicists' Association.
In 1918, she described her first period in the journalism profession and commented that it had in fact been much less controversial for a woman to be a journalist in the 1880s, when women's emancipation was still a welcomed novelty and not such a provocation as it was to be later:
Maria Cederschiöld was also active as a women's rights activist both nationally and internationally. Between 1884 and 1900, she was the secretary of the ''
Svenska Kvinnors Nationalförbund'', the Swedish branch of the
International Council of Women
The International Council of Women (ICW) is a women's rights organization working across national boundaries for the common cause of advocating human rights for women. In March and April 1888, women leaders came together in Washington, D.C., wit ...
, and its vice chairperson from 1909 to 1919, and participated as the Swedish delegate in its congresses in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
1899,
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...
(with
Hilda Sachs
Hilda Gustafva Sachs (13 March 1857, Norrköping – 26 February 1935), was a Swedish journalist, translator, writer and feminist.
She was the daughter of merchant Johan Gustaf Engström and Gustafva Augusta Gustafsson in Norrköping. She worked ...
) in 1900,
Berlin
Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...
1904, and its board meetings in
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...
1904 and Berlin 1912. In 1902, she wrote the appeal accompanying 4154 signatures in favor of
women's suffrage
Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to gran ...
sent to the parliament by the
Fredrika Bremer Association
The Fredrika Bremer Association ( sv, Fredrika Bremer Förbundet, abbreviated FBF) is the oldest women's rights organisation in Sweden. The association stands for an inclusive, intersectional and progressive liberal feminism, and advocates for wom ...
before the creation of the
National Association for Women's Suffrage. Cederschiöld was a member of the women's association
Nya Idun
Nya Idun is a Swedish cultural association for women founded in 1885, originally as a female counterpart to Sällskapet Idun ('the Idun Society'). Its aim was to "gather educated women in the Stockholm area for informal gatherings".
There was al ...
. In 1892–1895, she was the secretary of the
Married Woman's Property Rights Association
The Married Woman Property Association ( Swedish: Föreningen för gift kvinnas äganderätt), was a Swedish women's rights organisation active in Sweden between 1873 and 1896. Its purpose was to work for the introduction of reformed laws in favor ...
. She was also engaged in a number of other civil organisations for women's rights, welfare and literature.
Works
*''Lars Johan Hierta och kvinnas rätt i samhället'' (
Lars Johan Hierta
Lars Johan Hierta (; 22 January 1801 – 20 November 1872) was a Swedish newspaper publisher, social critic, businessman and politician. He is best known as the founder of the newspaper ''Aftonbladet'' in 1830. Hierta was a leading agitator for p ...
and the rights of women in society) 1901
*''Den svenska gifta kvinnans rättsliga ställning'' (The legal position of the married Swedish woman) 1903
*''En banbryterska. En minnesskrift över Ellen Fries'' (A pioneer. A memorial over
Ellen Fries
Ellen Fries (23 September 1855 – 31 March 1900) was a Swedish feminist and writer. She became the first female Ph.D. in Sweden in 1883. She was also involved in founding several women's organizations.
Biography
She born in 1855 at Rödsleg ...
) 1913
See also
*
Wendela Hebbe
References
Additional sources
* Österberg, Carin et al., ''Svenska kvinnor: föregångare, nyskapare'' (Swedish women; Predecessors, pioneers). Lund: Signum 1990. ()
Publicistklubbens porträttmatrikel / 1936* Berger, Margareta, Pennskaft: kvinnliga journalister i svensk dagspress 1690–1975, Norstedt, Stockholm, 1977
Further reading
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cederschiold, Maria
Swedish journalists
Swedish suffragists
1856 births
1935 deaths
Swedish nobility
19th-century Swedish journalists
19th-century Swedish women writers
19th-century Swedish writers
Maria
Maria may refer to:
People
* Mary, mother of Jesus
* Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages
Place names Extraterrestrial
* 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877
* Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...