Sofia Lovisa Gumaelius (8 December 1840 in

Örebro Örebro ( ; ) is the seventh-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Örebro Municipality, and capital of Örebro County. It is situated by the Närke Plain, near the lake Hjälmaren, a few kilometers inland along the small river Svartån, and ...

– 23 January 1915 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 ...

), was a Swedish businessperson.

Early life

She was the daughter of , founder of the

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

Nerikes Allehanda. In July 1877, Sofia Gumaelius founded the

advertising agency An advertising agency, often referred to as a creative agency or an ad agency, is a business dedicated to creating, planning, and handling advertising and sometimes other forms of promotion and marketing for its clients. An ad agency is generall ...

"Nya annonsbyrån, landsortspressens egen annonsförmedlare", generally referred to as Gumaelius Annonsbyrå or Gumaelius. It is known as one of the oldest advertising and communications businesses in the world. In 1877 Sofia Gumaelius rented two rooms in Stockholm’s old town, intended as a temporary office. She borrowed some of the money for the start up from her brother Arvid Gumaelius and started the business off on her own. After a few months she needed to hire people and the first employee was Agda Wilson. The company quickly grew in size and within a year the office location had to be changed. In 1908 the firm built a new building in central Stockholm for their office. During Sofia Gumaelius’ lifetime offices were also established in

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Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

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 ...

and

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

Career

From 1881 the name S. Gumaelii Annonsbyrå was registered as an abbreviation for Sofia Gumaelius’ Annonsbyrå. In 1883 Sofia Gumaelius also established the firm Gumaelius & Co, for printing supplies. In 1918, both these firms were joint into one firm under the name S Gumaelius. As an advertising person she was known for being strongly in favour of creating truthful messages in advertising to build trust among consumers. She differed her agency at an early stage in relation to her competitors by employing

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicate ...

s at an early stage and by focusing on ads with visual elements and slogans.

Social activism

Sofia Gumaelius was socially engaged and had an interest in democracy and free publicity. For some years she was treasurer in the Swedish organisation for women suffrage, National Association for Women's Suffrage. She was active in the Swedish journalist association Publicistklubben where she participated until her death and where she was referred to as ”The first lady of the Press” among her associates. She was the vice chairman of the women's club of her time Kvinnoklubben and was active in the women’s organisation Fredrika Bremer Association.

Death and legacy

At her death, she was described as the greatest businesswoman in her country. Her business lived on beyond her death.

References

Sources

Sveriges äldsta reklambyrå avvecklas
8 februari 2008 i ''Resumé'' * Article Nerikes Allehanda 28 juli 1977, * Valdemar von Sydow ” S Gumaelius Annonsbyrå” (1927) *

Ellen Fries Ellen Fries (23 September 1855 – 31 March 1900) was a Swedish feminist and writer. She became the first female Ph.D. in Sweden in 1883. She also founded several women's organizations. Biography She born in 1855 at Rödslegård in Törnsfal ...

: ”Märkvärdiga kvinnor” (1891) * ”Den Svenska Historien” Bonniers Förlag,

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gumaelius, Sofia 1840 births 1915 deaths Swedish suffragists 19th-century Swedish businesspeople 19th-century Swedish businesswomen Swedish women business executives 20th-century Swedish businesswomen 20th-century Swedish businesspeople People from Örebro