Anna Åfelt

Anna Åfelt (1817—1884) was a prominent Swedish school teacher. She was one of the pioneers of elementary public schooling in Sweden. She was one of the first Swedish women to become a qualified public school teacher, and was later employed as a regular full-time teacher.

Life

Anna Åfelt was born on 16 January 1817, in Vinslöv, Scania, Sweden, to a 22-year-old single mother, Benita Svensdotter. Being the child of an unmarried mother in the 19th century put them both in a precautious situation legally and socially.[1]

From 1837 she was active in Önnestad, training to become a teacher. When the state elementary public schooling was introduced in 1842, all of its teachers were required to have a teaching degree. She applied for a dispensation, and in 1847 was the first woman to gain a primary school teaching degree in Lund.[1][2][3] She retired from teaching in 1874.[4]

Like her mother, she remained unmarried. Anna Åfelt died on 22 May 1884.[1]

In 1942, on the 100th anniversary of the Swedish public schools' establishment, a memorial stone was built on her grave in Önnestad cemetery.[1]

See also

References
  1. Hamberger, Agnes (2020). "Anna Åfelt". Svenskt kvinnobiografiskt lexikon (in English). Translated by Grosjean, Alexia. Retrieved 2021-06-12.
  2. Aquilonius, K. (1942). Fredriksson, Viktor Adolf (ed.). Svenska folkskolans historia (in Swedish). Vol. 2: Det svenska folkundervisningsväsendet 1809-1860. Bonnier.
  3. Jönsson, N. (1952). Bland präster, bönder och gärningsmän i en gammal Göingesocken: några glimtar ur Önnestads äldre historia (in Swedish). H. Möllers bokhandel.
  4. Årsböcker i Svensk Undervisningshistoria (in Swedish). Föreningen för Svensk Undervisningshistoria. 1929.
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