Agnes Lundell (13 July 1878 – 17 September 1936), also known as Agneta, was the Finland's first female lawyer.

Biography

Born on 13 July 1878 in

Turku Turku ( ; ; , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Aura River (Finland), River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately , while t ...

, Finland, Agnes Lundell was the daughter of Alfred Wilhelm Lundell (1839 – 1904) and Olga Wilhelmina Åkerman(1846 – 1900). She studied in a Girls’ School at Turku. She later enrolled at the

Imperial Alexander University The University of Helsinki (, ; UH) is a public university in Helsinki, Finland. The university was founded in Turku in 1640 as the Royal Academy of Åbo under the Swedish Empire, and moved to Helsinki in 1828 under the sponsorship of Tsar Al ...

to study law. In 1906 she became the first woman in Finland to graduate with a law degree. Upon graduation, Agnes Lundell began her legal career as the secretary of a senate division. In 1911 she became the first woman lawyer in Finland. She also involved in business. With Hjalmar Erlund, one of her school mates from Turku, she established a bilingual law firm named “Lundell & Erlund.” In the beginning of her legal career, she faced many challenges including dress code, and the use of her first name in judicial offices. She was also known for her feminist activities particularly her lectures on upholding women's rights. She died in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

on 17 September 1936.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lundell, Agnes 1878 births 1936 deaths 20th-century Finnish women lawyers