Bertha Wellin

Bertha Wellin

Bertha Wellin (11 September 1870 – 27 July 1951), was a Swedish Politician (Conservative) and nurse. She was one of the first five women to be elected into the Swedish parliament.

Life

Wellin was the daughter of the tax collector Alrik Wellin and Jenny Melén. She was educated as a nurse at the Sophiahemmet in Stockholm. In 1910 she became a member of the board of directors - from 1914 chairman - of Svensk sjuksköterskeförening (Swedish Nurses Association), in 1920 a member of the board of directors in the Committee of Nordic Nurses Cooperation, and from 1911 an editor of "Svensk sjukskötersketidning" (The Paper of the Swedish Nurse). She was also on the board of several of the medical centers in Stockholm, such as Sophiahemmet (1917).

In 1912, she was elected to Stockholm City Council as a Conservative, and in 1919, she became a member of the Public Health Care. In 1921, she became one of the first five women to be elected to the Swedish Parliament after women suffrage alongside Nelly Thüring (Social Democrat), Agda Östlund (Social Democrat) and Elisabeth Tamm (liberal) in the Lower chamber, and Kerstin Hesselgren in the Upper chamber.

She was given the Florence Nightingale Medal in 1935.

Sources

• ”Nordisk familjebok, Wellin, Bertha”. 1904–1926.
• Svenska dagbladets årsbok. Stockholm: Svenska dagbladet. 1936. Sid. 22. Libris 283647
• Dufva, S., G (2010). Klass och genus i vården. I H. Strömberg & H. Eriksson (Red.), Genusperspektiv på vård och omvårdnad (s.50).
• Ann-Cathrine Haglund, Ann-Marie Petersson, Inger Ström-Billing, red (2004). Moderata pionjärer: kvinnor i politiskt arbete 1900-2000. Stockholm: Sällskapet för moderata kvinnors historia. Libris 9666368. ISBN 91-631-5862-0 (inb.) Bertha Wellin, 1870-1951. Högerns första kvinnliga riksdagsledamot av Stina Nicklasson och Ann-Marie Petersson