Maria "Maja" Månsson (née Qvist, 5 September 1879 - 9 October 1958) was a Swedish politician and active member of the

Social Democrats Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...

and the party's Youth League.

Biography

Maria Qvist was born as the oldest of 11 siblings; her father was a soldier. Many girls at that time and with similar family backgrounds did not receive a formal education after elementary school. But after school, she visited an introductory course 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 ...

for teachers in small, rural schools. Afterwards, she also attended the

folk high school Folk high schools (also ''adult education center'') are institutions for adult education that generally do not grant academic degrees, though certain courses might exist leading to that goal. They are most commonly found in Nordic countries and i ...

Hvilan, the oldest one of these institutions in Sweden. She had to work from the age of 15, mostly as maid or servant 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 ...

and became a full-time activist at 25. Her political beliefs lead her to join the

and in 1902, the National Association for Women's Suffrage. Together with others, she founded the Female Domestic Workers' Association ('' Stockholms tjänarinneförening'') in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

and became their first chairwoman in 1904. In 1910, she was the first woman elected into the city council of

Gävle Gävle ( ; ) is a Urban areas in Sweden, city in Sweden, the seat of Gävle Municipality and the capital of Gävleborg County. It had 79,004 inhabitants in 2020, which makes it the List of cities in Sweden, 13th-most-populated city in Sweden. I ...

. She was especially interested in

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

and fought for female workers' rights, the limitation of working hours and education for employees. Around the turn of the century, she got to know

Fabian Månsson Karl Fabian Månsson (1872–1938) was a Swedish politician. In his youth, Månsson used the pseudonym ''Dacke'', a name he borrowed from the 16th century peasant rebel Nils Dacke. Fabian Månsson was born in a poor family in Hasslö, an isla ...

, a left-wing journalist, writer and former soldier. They started to live together, but were not legally married. That was considered a protest against the contemporary marriage laws, as women lost both responsibility and property when getting married. Their relationship corresponded to a Swedish version of

common-law marriage Common-law marriage, also known as non-ceremonial marriage, marriage, informal marriage, de facto marriage, more uxorio or marriage by habit and repute, is a marriage that results from the parties' agreement to consider themselves married, follo ...

(''Samvetsäktenskap''). Later in their lives, on Fabian's 50th birthday in 1922, they had the

archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

Nathan Söderblom Lars Olof Jonathan Söderblom (; 15 January 1866 – 12 July 1931) was a Swedish bishop. He was the Church of Sweden Archbishop of Uppsala from 1914 to 1931, and recipient of the 1930 Nobel Peace Prize. He is commemorated in the Calendar of ...

bless their relationship and married in 1925, after the marriage laws had changed (from 1920 on, married women were no longer under the legal guardianship of their husbands). They shared the same political beliefs: Both were on the board of the Social Democratic Youth League from its foundation on. Maria was also an important contributor to Fabian's work: She researched historical facts, and was proof-reading and type-writing his works.

Biography

References

Further reading