Alma Söderhjelm (10 May 1870 – 16 March 1949) was aSwedish-speakingFinnish historian and the first female professor in Finland.
After gaining an M.A. in history, Söderhjelm spent three years inParis, preparing her doctoral thesis under the supervision ofAlphonse Aulard. This was a study of journalism during the French Revolution and it was published asLe Régime de la presse pendant la Révolution française.[1] She was awarded a doctorate in 1900.
On the basis of this thesis, the university unanimously proposed to award her a lectureship. This appointment was delayed until 1906, because of political concern over her father and her brother. The Emperor was also concerned that if a woman became a lecturer in Finland, the same demand would be made in Russia.[citation needed]
In 1906, she finally became the first female lecturer in Finland. She stayed in this position until 1927. At this point, she became chair of General History atÅbo Akademi University, and thus the first female professor in Finland.[2]
Her academic work also involved editing the correspondence of theFrench Queen Marie Antoinette with the Swedish nobleman von Fersen and with some French revolutionaries.[3]
Söderhjelm worked as a journalist, writing a column for the newspaperÅbo Underrättelser. She also wrote novels, poetry, and a five-volume memoir.[4]She co-wrote the screenplay forThe Blizzard (1923), directed byMauritz Stiller.
Söderhjelm was politically active. She smuggled journals into Finland from Sweden, and helped military volunteers to move from Sweden into Germany.[5]
