Eva Andén

1886–1970.

Lawyer.

After her graduation, Eva Andén began studying law at Uppsala University and graduated in 1912.

After a law degree she travelled around the country and lectured on the marriage, child care and poor care laws. Andén also led courses in team knowledge for rural women, organized by country Association for Women's Political suffrage (LKPR).

In 1915 Andén took over a law firm for female clients, the women's law firm, and three years later she became a first woman member of the Swedish Bar Association.

Andén's Specialty was family law and assisted mainly clients in connection with divorces, inheritance, maintenance, custody issues and division of shares in divorces. As a client, Andén had Selma Lagerlöf and Astrid Lindgren.

Eva Andén was also part of a committee that was allowed to constitute the solicitor's referral body concerning family law legislation and, at times, came to have great influence.

During the years 1950-1962 she was also chairman of the Fellowship of the Nine. Andén conducted her lawyer's activities until her death in 1970.

 

Burial site: 0106-0343

Image description: Eva Andén, unknown year. Photo: Atelier Hedström, Uppsala / KvinnSam, Gothenburg University Library. [The image is cropped]
Click here for an uncropped image

 

 

Emma Schenson

1827–1913.

Photographer, watercolour painter.

Emma Schenson was probably the first female photographer in Uppsala and one of the first women in Sweden to photograph professionally.

She was first trained as a watercolour painter, but worked from the 1860s in parallel with both painting and photography. During the childhood of photography it was unusual for women to photograph professionally, but after the regulation for freedom to pursue a trade from 1864, it became possible for women to establish themselves as entrepreneurs and photographers.

Schenson was active in Uppsala from 1860 onwards and had a permanent studio on Östra Ågatan 25. In the Photographic Association, which organized photographers, there were in 1888, three female members of a total of 65. These women were Anna Hwass, Wilhelmina Skogh and Emma Schenson.

During Schenson's productive years, the business card photograph as well as the larger cabinet photograph (format approx. 12 × 16.5 cm) became very popular in all social classes. There are very likely pictures in older Uppsala families performed by her.

The Block Domen, Fyristorg and Uppsala Cathedral, Fjärdingen, Uppsala before 1885. Photographer: Probably Emma Schensson, Uppsala / Upplandsmuseet.

"The Geezers of the Svartbäcken creek" in Kvarnfallet at Akademikvarnen, the quarter Holmen, Uppsala 1880–1890s. Photographer: Emma Schenson / Upplandsmuseet.

During the years 1885-1893, Emma Schenson documented the great restoration of Uppsala Cathedral. Through her images we can follow the restoration from start to finish.

There are currently no negatives preserved from Schenson's photographs, but some photos have been preserved and are available today in the map and picture collections at Uppsala University Library.

There is also an album that shows the cathedral's transformation during the time of the great restoration. Early on, the value of this photographic documentation was realized, which can be seen in an inscription in the Schensons album, which ends "alone in its kind and important for the future". The photographs that are preserved, are a remarkable cultural and historical treasure.

 

Burial site: 0101-0031

Image description: Emma Schenson, ca 1865-ca 1875. Photo: UUB. [The image is cropped]
Click here for an uncropped image

 

 

 

Anna-Lisa Thomson

1905–1952.

Potter, painter.

Anna-Lisa Thomson studied at the Higher School of Art and Design in Stockholm from 1924 to 1928 and then in Italy, Austria, Prague and Dresden.

Between 1928 – 1933 she worked at S:t Eriks ' factory in Uppsala and designed tea sets in green glazes and ceramic objects with Reliefdekor. In the middle of the 1930 century Thomson came to Upsala Ekeby and worked there all his active life.

Primarily, Thomson created art goods in various ceramic materials with clean, often nature-inspired, decorative elements. Among the most famous works are the Vase Paprika (1948) which was performed in various shapes and sizes and the urn Lancet (1949). Thomson is represented at the National Museum and several other museums.

She also painted, and the works were often nature inspired with motifs from the west Coast where she spent parts of the year. Posthumously, the book echoed by days of Light Timbre (1953) with poems and illustrations by Anna-Lisa Thomson was published.

 

Burial site: 0318 – 1310

Image description: Anna-Lisa Thomson with ceramics, Uppsala 1937. Photo: Gunnar Sundgren / Upplandsmuseet. [The image is cropped]
Click here for an uncropped image

 

 

Maria Henschen

1840–1927.

Governess, teacher.

Maria Henschen opened a private school for girls in her father's (Lars W. Henschen) farms which were located between Kyrkogårdsgatan, Åsgränd and Övre Slottsgatan.

She then became the first matron for "Magdeburg" (Uppsala higher grammar school for women), which she also owned.

 

Burial site: 0101-0023

Image description: Maria Henschen, Uppsala 1877. Photo: Heinrich Osti / UUB. [The image is cropped]
Click here for an uncropped image

 

 

Ellen Hagen

1873–1967.

Figure in the women's rights movement, publisher and politician.

Ellen Hagen initiated the formation of uppsala women's suffrage association in 1902 and was its president until 1923. Hagen was one of the foremost in the work for voting rights for women in Sweden. She was married to Robert Hagen, governor of Gävleborg County from 1918 to 1922.

She was also one of the initiators of the country Association for the woman's political suffrage, as well as one of the founders of Liberal women 1914. Hagen was chairman of the Liberal Party Women's Association 1938 – 1946 and for the Swedish Women's Union of Citizens 1936–1963.

Ellen Hagen also participated in international peace and voice-law work and was a Swedish delegate at the Disarmament Conference in Paris in 1931.

 

Burial site: 0103-1967

Image description: Ellen Hagen, unknown year. Photo: Gävleborg County Museum. [The image is cropped]
Click here for an uncropped image

 

 

Barbro Holmdahl

1925–1998.

Nurse, author, teacher.

Barbro Holmdahl was a teacher at the nursing school and trained as a nurse at Uppsala nursing schools. In 1990, she became an honorary doctorate at the Faculty of Social Sciences at Uppsala University. Prior to that, Holmdahl had trained as a psychologist.

As an author she has published the Boken om Henrik  (1986), which depicts the illness and death of her own son. Other books she has published are Tusen år i det svenska barnets historia (2000) and Sjuksköterskans historia (1994).

One of several ways she used to educate her students was to take them on tour in Uppsala and talk about the health care facilities and the poor house. She also taught crisis management.

 

Burial site: 0101-0018

Image description: Barbro Holmdahl, unknown year. Photo: From private collection. [The image is cropped]
Click here for an uncropped image

 

 

Hildur Akselsson

1887–1944.

Private tutor for small school children.

In the age of eight, Hildur Akselsson suffered from child paralysis (polio) and as wheelchair bound she managed to acquire a good humanistic education. She had no formal teacher training but had the talent to teach children.

At the age of 19, she began a business in her parents home at Villa Vägen 3 (Villa Tomtebo) which would be known as "Aunt Hildur's School" and a well-known institution in Uppsala for 37 years.

In 1913 the family moved to the corner house at Skolatan 33 at Västra Strandgatan overlooking the creek and "Magdeburg". Her students included Dag Hammarskjöld and Gunnar Weman. About Hammarskjöld, Hildur Akselsson mentioned that he had easy to learn.

 

Burial site: 0131-1351

Image description : Hildur Akselsson, Uppsala 1901. Photo: Heinrich Osti/UUB. [The image is cropped]
Click here for an uncropped image

 

 

Agnes Hamilton born Geijer

1824–1885.

Culture person, daughter of E.G. Geijer

Agnes Hamilton had a central position in Uppsala's cultural life in the mid-1800s. She was the daughter of Erik Gustaf Geijer and Anna Lisa Liljebjörn. Hamilton was also a close friend of Helena Nyblom.

Agnes Hamilton married Adolf Hamilton, who for a period was governor of Uppsala.

One of the children of the Hamiltons, Anna Hamilton Geete, became a writer and wrote the memoirs at Sunset (4 bands 1910-1914). In it, Erik Gustaf Geijer's last decade of life was portrayed.

 

Burial site: 0116-0842

Image description: Agnes Hamilton born Geijer, unknown year. Photo: From private collection. [The image is cropped]
Click here for an uncropped image

 

 

Ester Bobeck

1889–1974.

Self-employed.

Ester Bobeck was called "The Tobacco Queen of Uppsala" and started tobacco trade first in 1908 at Östra Ågatan 27. Remarkably, Ester Bobeck did this at 18 years of age. Bobeck married in 1914 to the officer Otto Bobeck.

She had a aptitude for business and ran the first store alone, which became a meeting point for Uppsala's students. The students came to Bobecks shop to smoke cigar and discuss.

Four years later, on Östra Ågatan 59 in "Seven Hell's Openings", the second store was opened, which ran until 1935 when the house was demolished. The store was well placed because Flustret, the University Hospital and the regiments at Polacksbacken were nearby. Also, Uppsala Harbour was located next to. In connection with the demolition of the house, the tobacco shop was saved for some time in the so-called seventh opening.

Ester Bobecks (then Ericsson) first tobacco store at Östra Ågatan 27 in Uppsala. Photo: From private collection.

"Seventh opening" at Östra Ågatan 59 in Uppsala 1936. Photo: Gunnar Sund / Upplandsmuseet.

In 1964 a Tobacco Shop was established at Fyris Square in the Phoenix House. Then Carl Perschel Barowiaks tobacco shop was taken over.

During these years, shops were also opened at Dragarbrunnsgatan 26, Kungsängsgatan 8, Drottninggatan 8 and Skolgatan 8. Bobeck was also one of the first members of the Swedish Tobacco Dealers' Association and was awarded the association's gold medal in 1964.

 

Burial site: 0102-0136

Image description: Ester Bobeck in store, unknown year. Photo: From private collection. [The image is cropped]
Click here for an uncropped image

 

 

Agnes Geijer

1898–1989.

Textile historian, teacher.

Agnes Geijer was born in October 1898 in an academic home in Uppsala. She later became an art teacher and textile history at the School of Home Economics from 1921 to 1927 and assistant professor at the Swedish National Museum of History and the National Museum. She was also the most leading researcher in Nordic textile history of her time.

She was the leader of Pieta's preservation Department in 1930 – 1949 and head of the Swedish National Heritage Board textile department.

In 1938 Geijer received her doctorate with a dissertation on ancient textiles from the excavations at Björkö (Birka) and made a groundbreaking contribution to textile research. The textiles found at Birka were of different materials and produced differently, sometimes with unknown techniques. Geijer's work with the findings at Birka showed that Viking-age costumes could be reconstructed and that their origin could be determined.

Agnes Geijer published several writings, such as medieval textiles of Swedish manufacturing, textile treasures in Uppsala Cathedral and from the history of textile art that has been translated into English, which has given her international recognition.

To strengthen the Nordic textile research, she set up the foundation Agnes Geijer's Fund for Nordic Textile Research and the foundation has been active since 1988.

Agnes Geijer (to the right). at a preserved Polish banner from the 1600 of the Swedish State Trophy collection. Photo: Statens Trofésamling 1959.

Agnes Geijer (to the right) on Pietas textile preservation. Photo: Svenska Journalen 1942.

 

Burial site: 0129-2152

Image description: Agnes Geijer, 1968. Photo: Ingrid Bergman. [The image is cropped]
Click here for an uncropped image