Maria Osberg (also Maria Osberg-Wessel; 6 December 1864 – 17 February 1940) was a Swedish politician (

Social Democrat Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

) and trade unionist. She belonged to the women pioneers of the labour movement, the Social Democratic movement, as well as the trade unionism and women's rights movement within the Social Democratic labour movement in Sweden. She was active within the organisation of women workers within the trade unions. She was a co-founder of the Kvinnliga arbetarklubben in 1888 and its chairperson 1890–1892, and co-founder of the Malmö Kvinnliga Diskussionsklubb in 1900. In Stockholm she was active in the Allmänna Kvinnoklubben. Maria Osberg supported women's issues specifically both as a trade unionist as well as within the party: as a trade unionist, she particularly organised women, and as a social democrat, she worked closely with the

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...

movement.

Life

Osberg was born on 6 December 1864, Sallerup, in

Scania Scania ( ), also known by its native name of Skåne (), is the southernmost of the historical provinces of Sweden, provinces () of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous w ...

. Her father was a landscape architect, and her mother died when Maria was seven.{{SKBL, author=Ulrika Holgersson (Translated by Alexia Grosjean), accessdate=21 April 2025 Osberg trained as a seamstress, which involved her in the worker's union movement, in

Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...

. She attended the September 1888 meeting which led to the establishment of a society specifically for women members of the Social Democratic party, which then became the female worker's association, the Malmö Kvinnliga arbetareförbund. Osberg her partner Nils Wessel through the social democratic party. Wessel was chair of the SDP and supported women leading their own organisation. Osberg was chair of the association for female workers in 1890–1892. The association was charged with illegally supplying alcohol at social event, and when she was unable to pay the fine, and the Social Democratic Party would not support her, she spent eight days in prison in March 1891.Anne-Marie Lindgren & Marika Lindgren Åsbrink:
Systrar kamrater! Arbetarrörelsens kvinnliga pionjärer
'. Stockholm 2007 Osberg was also co-founder of the Malmö Kvinnliga Diskussionsklubb. In 1900 or 1901 Osberg moved to Stockholm, where she was active in the Allmänna Kvinnoklubben and worked closely with the suffrage movement. She had a daughter in 1894, who became an actress. Osberg died on 17 February 1940 and is buried with Nils Wessel, who died the same year, in Bromma cemetery.

References

1864 births 1940 deaths 19th-century Swedish politicians 20th-century Swedish politicians Swedish social democrats Swedish trade unionists Swedish women's rights activists Swedish suffragists 19th-century Swedish women politicians 20th-century Swedish women politicians People from Malmö Municipality