Wallinska skolan (Wallin School) or Wallinska flickskolan (Wallin Girls' School), was a

girls' school Single-sex education, also known as single-gender education, same-sex education, same-gender education, and gender-isolated education, is the practice of conducting education with male and female students attending separate classes, perhaps in se ...

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 ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. Active from 1831 to 1939, it was one of the first five schools in Sweden to offer serious academic education and

secondary education Secondary education is the education level following primary education and preceding tertiary education. Level 2 or ''lower secondary education'' (less commonly ''junior secondary education'') is considered the second and final phase of basic e ...

to female students. In 1870, it became the first gymnasium for females in Sweden, and in 1874, it became the first girls' school that was permitted to administer the

Studentexamen Studentexamen (Swedish for "students' examination" or "students' degree"), earlier also ''mogenhetsexamen'' ("maturity examination") was the name of the university entrance examination in Sweden from the 17th century to 1968. From 1862 to 1968, ...

to female students.

History

Foundation

The Wallinska skolan was founded in 1831 by the historian

Anders Fryxell Anders Fryxell (7 February 179521 March 1881) was a Swedish historian. Life Fryxell was born at Edsleskog, Dalsland, (now part of Åmål Municipality, Västra Götaland County) on 7 February 1795. He was educated at Uppsala University, took holy ...

upon suggestion by the bishop and writer

Johan Olof Wallin Johan Olof Wallin, (15 October 1779 – 30 June 1839), was a Swedish minister, orator, poet and later Church of Sweden Archbishop of Uppsala, Sweden between 1837 and 1839. He is most remembered today for his hymns. Early life He was born in ...

. The school was founded out of intellectual discontent over the contemporary shallow education of females in the contemporary

finishing school A finishing school focuses on teaching young women social graces and upper-class cultural rites as a preparation for entry into society. The name reflects the fact that it follows ordinary school and is intended to complete a young woman's ...

s, such as '' Bjurströmska pensionen ''. Wallin convinced Fryxell that girls should be educated "with higher ambitions than to learn to speak French and play the klavér", because also women had the right to serious studies, and that it would surely prove to be needed in the future, which is why they were in need of a school "similar to that of the state

Gymnasium (school) ''Gymnasium'' (and Gymnasium (school)#By country, variations of the word) is a term in various European languages for a secondary school that prepares students for higher education at a university. It is comparable to the US English term ''U ...

for boys".

Pioneer institution

At the time of the introduction of compulsory

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

for both genders in Sweden in 1842, it was one of only five schools in Sweden to provide serious academic secondary education to females, and it was the first of that kind in the capital: the others being ''

Societetsskolan Societetsskolan i Göteborg för döttrar ('Society School for Daughters in Gothenburg') or simply ''Societetsskolan'' ('Society School'), was a Swedish Single-sex education, girls' school managed by the congregation of the Moravian Church in Gothen ...

'' (1786), '' Fruntimmersföreningens flickskola'' (1815) and ''

Kjellbergska flickskolan Kjellbergska flickskolan ('Kjellberg Girls' School') was a Single-sex education, Girls' School in Gothenburg, Sweden. It was active between 1835 and 1967. History The school was founded by a fund granted in the will of the wealthy merchant Jona ...

'' (1833) in

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 ...

, and ''

Askersunds flickskola Askersunds flickskola (Askersund Girls' School), was a Swedish girls' school in Askersund, active from 1812 until 1906. It was the second school in Sweden to offer secondary education to female students. Formally, Askersunds flickskola was a branch ...

'' (1812) in

Askersund Askersund is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Askersund Municipality, Örebro County, Sweden with a population census of 3,887 inhabitants in 2010. Geography Askersund is a popular tourist destination with swimming and nature ...

. Of these five schools, Askersunds flickskola and Wallinska skolan were considered to offer the highest academic quality to their students, and the Wallinska skolan was the most progressive of them all. It was the fourth girls' school in Sweden and the first in the capital of Stockholm to give female students an almost equal education to that of boys, in accordance with a structured pedagogic method. It was not an uncontroversial project, but Anders Fryxell had, reportedly, "the, for a principal of a radical pioneer school, invaluable talent to be able to handle parents". Wallinska skolan was managed by two principals in parallel, one male and one female. Upon its foundation, the school had five teachers and a student number of 33: the subjects were Christianity, Swedish, German, natural science, French, history, handicrafts and drawing. It was partitioned in four classes with the two first divided in four home works groups and the two later classes in three. The course was expansive and scientifically developed for its time. The school year was long, with only a month's summer vacation and two weeks of Christmas vacation. The school gradually changed over the years by continuously adjusting itself to the contemporary progressive ideals of women's education, reforms which were generally controversial, but always introduced nonetheless. Wallinska skolan was to remain the only serious secondary education school for girls in the capital until the 1860s, when the

Royal Seminary The Royal Seminary, fully the Royal Advanced Female Teachers' Seminary (, abbreviated KHLS), was a normal school (teachers' college) in Stockholm, Sweden. It was active from 1861 until 1943. It was the first public institution of higher acade ...

was founded and the other girls' schools in Stockholm, notably ''

Åhlinska skolan Åhlinska skolan (Åhlin School), or Åhlinska flickskolan (Åhlin Girls' School), was a girls' school in Stockholm, Sweden. Active from 1847 to 1939, it was one of the first schools in Sweden that offered serious academic education to female stu ...

'' which was founded by

Karin Åhlin Karin Dorothea Wilhelmina Åhlin (25 November 1830 – September 30, 1899) was a Swedish educator. She was the founder and director of the ''Åhlinska skolan'' in Stockholm, and its principal from 1847 to 1899. Biography Karin Åhlin was born and ...

in 1847, started to reform into serious secondary schools.

University Preparation Institution

By two reforms in 1870 and 1873, women in Sweden were given access to university education. To make this possible, access to the other levels of education was necessary, and the same year, Wallinska skolan became the first gymnasium for females in Sweden: it formed its first gymnasium class in 1870, and two years later, the first of its students at this level, Johanna Levysohn, took her ''

'' at the male Stockholm gymnasium. In 1874, because it met with the demands stated in the

Girls' School Committee of 1866 The Flickskolekommittén 1866 (Girls' School Committee of 1866), was a Swedish governmental committee established by the Swedish Parliament, the Riksdag, in 1866 to examine organization of female education in Sweden and produce suggestions of refo ...

, Wallinska skolan was given governmental support. The same year, 1874, it became the first girls' school in Sweden to win the right to administer the ''studentexamen'' for its students. It was one of five girls' schools in Sweden to be given this right prior before 1900, followed by ''Ateneum för flickor'' (Ateneum for Girls), ''Lyceum för flickor'' (Lyceum for Girls) in 1882, ''

'' in 1894 and '' Tekla Åbergs högre läroverk för flickor'' 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 ...

in 1898, the first outside the capital. The reforms of the 1870s signified a breakthrough for the school, by then known as "Wallinium": the number of students increased from 70–80 to 250 during the 1870s, and Wallinska skolan long became nationally known as "the school where you could take the studentexamen" and continue to university. The progressive reforms and expansion during the later half of the 19th-century were credited to

Evelina Fahnehjelm Evelina Wilhelmina Fahnehjelm (25 April 1838 – 23 September 1898) was a Swedish educator. She served as the principal of the Wallinska skolan, one of the first schools in Sweden to offer academic secondary education to females, and was credit ...

(principal 1872–1898), who was given the

Ilis quorum ''Illis quorum'' (''Illis quorum meruere labores'') (English: "For Those Whose Labors Have Deserved It") is a gold medal awarded for outstanding contributions to Swedish culture, science or society. The award was introduced in 1784 by King Gusta ...

in recognition. In 1914, the number of students were 373, and the number of teachers 35.

Dissolution

In 1939, the school was united with the

to the co-educational ''Wallin-Åhlinska gymnasiet'' (Wallin-Åhlin Gymnasium) as a result of the new educational reform.

Notable students

A great number of notable personalities have been students at the school during its existence. Among them were:

Karolina Widerström Karolina Olivia Widerström (10 December 1856 – 4 March 1949) was a Swedish medical doctor and gynecologist. She was the first female physician with a university education in her country. She was also a feminist and a politician, and engaged i ...

Rosalie Roos Rosalie Ulrika Olivecrona (née Roos; December 9, 1823 – June 4, 1898) was a Swedish feminist and writer. She is one of the three great pioneers of the organized women's rights movement in Sweden, alongside Fredrika Bremer and Sophie Adle ...

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 ...

Anne Charlotte Leffler Anne Charlotte Edgren-Leffler, duchess of Caianello (1 October 184921 October 1892), was a Sweden, Swedish author. Biography She was the daughter of the school principal John Olof Leffler and Gustava Wilhelmina Mittag. Her brother was noted mathe ...

Emilia Broomé Emilia Augusta Clementina Broomé (; 13 January 1866 – 2 June 1925) was a Swedish politician (liberal), feminist and peace activist. She was the first woman in the Swedish legislative assembly (1914). Life Emilia Broomé was born on 13 Octob ...

, Anna Paues, Ellen Roosval von Hallwyl, Ebba von Eckermann,

Fredrique Paijkull Fredrika Augusta "Fredrique" Paijkull (née Broström; 22 September 1836–1899) was a Swedish educator. She was a pioneer for the folk high schools in Sweden. She opened the first folk high school for women in Sweden. Life Paijkull was born ...

Lydia Wahlström Lydia Katarina Wahlström (28 June 1869 – 2 June 1954) was a Swedish historian, author and feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, ...

Maria Cederschiöld Hedvig ''Maria'' Reddita Cederschiöld (29 June 1856, Stockholm – 19 October 1935, Stockholm) was a Swedish journalist and women's rights activist. She was the chief editor of the foreign office at ''Aftonbladet'' in 1909–1921, and the first ...

, Gulli Petrini, Dr. Ellen Sandelin,

Anna Lisa Andersson Anna Lisa Andersson (3 June 1873–10 March 1958), was a Swedish journalist and writer. As a journalist, she was known under her signature ''Huglek''. She was a reporter of ''Aftonbladet'' in 1907–1932. She was the daughter of the merchant Ca ...

Hanna Rydh Hanna Albertina Rydh (12 February 1891 – 29 June 1964) was a Swedish archaeologist and politician for the Liberal People's Party. She served as a Member of Parliament in the Riksdag from 1943 to 1944 and was the 3rd President of the Internati ...

, Naima Sahlbom,

Elsa Stuart-Bergstrom Elsa Marianne Stuart-Bergstrom (26 April 1889 – 19 May 1970) was a Swedish author, composer,( and music critic who wrote several biographies, composed about 60 songs as well as orchestral works, and sometimes published under the pseudonyms Kaime ...

, and Elsa Thulin.

References

Other sources

* Wallinska skolan i Nordisk familjebok (andra upplagan, 1921) * Wallinska skolan 1831-1931 (1931) Libris 1365131 * Friman, Helena; Söderström, Göran (2008). Stockholm: en historia i kartor och bilder. Monografier utgivna av Stockholms stad. Nordqvist, Sven (illustratör). Stockholm: Wahlström & Widstrand. Libris 10736828.
Elever i icke obligatoriska-skolor-1864-1970. Promemorier från SCB. 1977
*Sara Backman Prytz
Borgerlighetens döttrar och söner. Kvinnliga och manliga ideal bland läroverksungdomar, ca. 1880−1930
2014 *

Gunhild Kyle Gunhild Kyle (28 August 1921 – 14 February 2016) was a Swedish historian.Sweden's population 1970, CD-ROM, Version 1.04, Swedish Family Research Association (2002). She was Sweden's first professor of women's history at the University of Gothenbu ...

(1972). Svensk flickskola under 1800-talet. Göteborg: Kvinnohistoriskt arkiv. ISBN {{coord missing, Sweden Educational institutions established in 1831 Educational institutions disestablished in 1939 Girls' schools in Sweden Defunct schools in Sweden 1831 establishments in Sweden 1939 disestablishments in Sweden History of Stockholm 19th-century establishments in Stockholm Education in Stockholm 20th-century disestablishments in Stockholm