Miina Sillanpää

Miina Sillanpää was the woman who became first minister of Finland and a key figure in the labour movement.

She was born on June 4, 1866 in Jokioinen. Her family were very humble and they were nine brothers. She started working with twelve years of age in a cotton factory. Her original name was Vilhelmiina Riktig, but when she was 18 years old she changed it for Miina Sillanpää.

She was medium height, with light wavy hair and a bun, small gray eyes and a luminous look, dressed elegantly and in a simple way.

Sillanpää, didn’t have a formal school education. She emerged from poverty to become one of the first women in the Finnish Parliament and was an influential advocate of social rights, fighting all her life for the cause of women, the elderly and the disadvantaged. Her multiple jobs were always related to domestic women's issues and social services. She always combined her work with social and political responsibility.

In 1906 Finland is the first European country that allows women to vote and the first country in the world to postulate women for public office. In 1907 Sillanpää became one of the first 19 women elected to the parliament in the world. She was a member of parliament for 38 years. She participated in the preparation of the first municipal law of Finland.

She died on April 3, 1952 in Helsinki.

In 2016, the Finnish Government made an official flag day of October 1, in honour of Sillanpää.

Teresa Castiella

English for Fun 4B