Olga Adele Oinola born Olga Adele Johansson (2 July 1865 – 6 November 1949) was a Finn who became President of the Finnish Women Association.

Life

Oinola was born in

Leppävirta Leppävirta () is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Northern Savonia region, south of Kuopio along the Finnish national road 5. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population den ...

in 1865. Oinola completed girls' school in 1879 and she completed her graduate education in 1887. The following year she began to teach at the Finnish Comprehensive School 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 ...

she held this position until 1930 although from 1905 for 18 years she taught at the Vocational School for Girls in Native Language. In parallel she continued her education with a trip to Germany in 1911 and 1913. In 1907 the first general election in Finland that had been open to women took place. Nineteen women were elected which was less than 10% of the total members of parliament. The successful women included

Lucina Hagman Lucina Hagman (5 June 1853, Kälviä – 6 September 1946, Helsinki) was an early Finnish feminist and among the first female MPs in the world due to the 1907 Finnish parliamentary election. Life and career Hagman was the daughter of police mas ...

Miina Sillanpää Miina Sillanpää (originally Vilhelmiina Riktig, ) was a Finnish politician. She served as Deputy Minister of Social Affairs in 1926-1927. She was Finland's first female minister and a key figure in the workers' movement. In 2016, the Finnish g ...

, Anni Huotari,

Hilja Pärssinen Hilja Pärssinen (13 July 1876, in Halsua – 23 September 1935, in née ''Lindgren'') was a Finland, Finnish schoolteacher, poet, journalist and politician. Along with Elvira Willman, Elvira Wilman and Hilda Tihlä was the most popular female wri ...

, Hedvig Gebhard, Ida Aalle,

Mimmi Kanervo Mimmi Kanervo (26 May 1870 – 1 April 1922) was a Finnish politician and trade unionist. A member of the Social Democratic Party, she was elected to Parliament in 1907 as one of the first group of female MPs, remaining in parliament until 1917. ...

, Eveliina Ala-Kulju, Hilda Käkikoski,

Liisi Kivioja Liisi Kivioja (10 January 1859 – 30 October 1925) was a Finnish educator, politician and banker. A member of the Finnish Party, she was elected to Parliament in 1907 as one of the first group of female MPs, remaining in parliament until 1910. B ...

Sandra Lehtinen Aleksandra Lehtinen (10 January 1859 – 5 September 1954) was a Finnish politician and trade unionist. A member of the Social Democratic Party, she was elected to Parliament in 1907 as one of the first group of female MPs, remaining in parliamen ...

, Dagmar Neovius, Maria Raunio,

Alexandra Gripenberg Alexandra Gripenberg, also known as Alexandra van Grippenberg, (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 ...

, Iida Vemmelpuu, Maria Laine, Jenny Nuotio and

Hilma Räsänen Hilma Sohvi Räsänen (28 March 1877 – 20 January 1955) was a Finnish educator and politician. A member of the Agrarian League, she was elected to Parliament in 1907 as one of the first group of female MPs. She remained an MP until the followi ...

. Many had expected more. Oinola was amongst a few women who realised that the women of Finland needed to seize this opportunity and organisation and education would be required. Newly elected MPs Lucina Hagman and Maikki Friberg together with Aldyth Hultin, Mathilda von Troil, Ellinor Ingman-Ivalo, Sofia Streng and

Olga Österberg Olga may refer to: People and fictional characters * Olga (name), a given name, including a list of people and fictional characters named Olga or Olha * Michael Algar (born 1962), English singer also known as "Olga" Places Russia * Olga, Russia ...

founded the

Finnish Women's Association The Finnish Women's Association (, ) is a Finnish women's rights organisation. It was founded in 1884, and is the oldest women's movement organisation in Finland. The organization was the publisher of a women's magazine, '' Koti ja Yhteiskunta'' (1 ...

's first branch in Helsinki. She was to be the third chair of the organisation succeeding Lucina Hagman in 1919 and continuing until the following year. She would return to the role again in 1931 and serve till 1936. Oinola's focused her efforts outside her work on temperance and

women's issues Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern societies are patriarchal—th ...

. She was a talented speaker with a broad knowledge of the issues. She weighed into contentious issues like women doing night work. Some argued that women should have an equal opportunity to work at night whereas others argues that mothers should not abandon their children at night. Another contentious issue was unmarried mothers who face a lot of recrimination. The women MPs were split over the proposal for the government to supply refuges for these mothers. In Finland the children of unmarried mothers were auctioned up until the 1920s. Oinola also she sat on the Poverty Treatment Board until 1936. Her other positions included being on the Central Board of the Finnish Women's Federation 1907-1949 serving as the Chair from 1913 to 1921 and later a shorter service from 1932 to 1934. Vice Chairman of the Women's Fitness Centre 1921–1939, Chairman of the Women's Teachers' Association in 1913.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oinola, Olga 1865 births 1949 deaths People from Leppävirta People from Kuopio Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) Finnish suffragists Suffragists from the Russian Empire