- Alexandra Gripenberg
Alexandra Gripenberg, also known as Alexandra van Grippenberg, (
30 August 1857 -24 December 1913 ) was a Finnish social activist, author, editor, newspaper publisher, and elected politician, and was a leading voice within the movement for women's rights in Finland at the turn of the 20th century. She was also known as aFennoman .She founded the first official women's rights organization in Finland, the Suomen Naisyhdistys (Finnish Women's Association), in
Helsinki in 1884. Between 1887– 1888, she traveled in England and the United States, to study lessons from the women's movements of those countries. The tour inspired her book "A Half Year in the New World" (1889). She served as the treasurer of theInternational Council of Women from 1893–1899.When Finland granted
women's suffrage in 1906 Gripenberg was one of the ten female conservatives elected, along with nine other women belonging to the Social Democratic Party, making her one of the first women to get elected into theParliament of Finland . She was elected through the conservativeFinnish Party , which proved somewhat difficult for her at times as she was Swedish-speaking nobility and the party was Finnish-speaking with strong grass roots support in the Finnish countryside.References
* [http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/dinner_party/heritage_floor/alexandra_van_grippenberg.php Alexandra van Grippenberg] at the Brooklyn Museum Dinner party database. Accessed July 2007
External links
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