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From Maid to Minister

When I returned to Finland in 1964 as a teenager after spending most of my life abroad, I was amazed at the many special days when the Finnish flag was hoisted. On October 1, the flags fly for Miina Sillanpää, one of the first nineteen women elected to the Finnish Parliament in 1907, and twenty years later, the first woman to hold a government post as Minister of Social Affairs. Throughout her life, she was a fierce advocate for the rights of the disadvantaged, elderly people, and women as a whole.
In the nineteenth century, life was hard for the people who subsisted on small farms and, with increasing industrialization, people flocked to the towns that offered factory jobs, creating a growing working class with little to no political representation.¹
Miina Sillanpää was born the seventh child of a poor family in a village in 1866, during the Great Famine—a devastating demographic disaster. At the age of twelve, Miina started working in a factory until she was able to get a position as a maid. She was an activist for social and civil progress throughout her life, founding the Servants’ Association in 1898.² Miina then fought for women’s suffrage until 1906, when Finnish women became the first in Europe to be granted the right to vote and run for office. The following year, she was elected to parliament. During Miina’s 38 years as a member of parliament, she continued to work tirelessly to improve the position of women in society.³
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Author: Hannele Ottschofski, a native of Finland, is passionate about women’s empowerment. She is the author of four books and has been active in helping women find their gifts and break the glass ceiling. She resides in Germany.
This article first appeared in CBE International’s Mutuality publication on March 6, 2025. (www.cbeinternational.org). Republished with permission.