Elsa Eschelsson
Encyclopedia
Elsa Olava Kristina Eschelsson (11 November 1861--10 March 1911) was the first woman to finish a Doctor of Laws (juris utriusque doctor) degree
and the first to attain the academic position of docent
at a Swedish
university, but was denied the right to even serve as acting professor because of her sex. She died from an overdose of sleeping-powder in 1911.
Elsa Eschelsson was born in Norrköping
. As most of the earliest generation of women to study at Swedish universities, she came from a well-to-do bourgeois background, daughter of Anders Olof Eschelsson, the owner of a soap factory who also served as Prussian
consul in Norrköping. Elsa's mother Carolina Lovisa Ulrika Frestadius was her husband's cousin and daughter of a prominent Stockholm
industrialist, A. W. Frestadius.
After his wife's death, A. O. Eschelsson settled in Stockholm with his four daughters. At the age of fourteen Elsa lost her father as well and moved in with an older sister, the young dowager countess Anna Piper. Her oldest sister, Ida, was married to Johan Vilhelm Hagströmer, a law professor at Uppsala university
. Elsa finished her "studentexamen", the final examination from secondary school, in 1882 and came to Uppsala as a student. She began with a fil. kand. degree in history which she completed in 1885. After graduating, she went on a long journey through Europe and the Middle East, but returned to Uppsala and her studies in the fall. She had shown an early interest in studying Law and after her return she began her law studies, encouraged by her brother-in-law Hagströmer. She received her juris utriusque licentiat and juris utriusque doctor degrees in 1897 and was appointed a docent
of civil law at the university.
Eschelsson lectured in process law at the university 1897-1899, taught the so-called propaedeutic
course in civil law from 1904 and held appointment to examine students taking the civilexamen (a lower law degree qualifying for some civil servant positions). As a woman pioneer in her field, she had supporters in the Faculty of Law, including Ernst Trygger
and her brother-in-law Hagströmer, but also encountered problems; because of her sex, she would not have been allowed to hold an ordinary professorship - this was changed only in 1925 - and, despite the recommendation of the faculty, she was denied even acting as professor in 1898. She had the support of most of the professors in the Law Faculty but was brutally persecuted by civil law professor Alfred Ossian Winroth (1852-1914), who had come from Lund in 1899, until he moved to a professorship at the University in Stockholm in 1907.
She has been described both as shy and ambitious, and as a sensitive person with many highs and lows who kept a formal and distanced relationship to the other women at the university and avoided participating in many of their social activities. She died March 10, 1911, in Uppsala from an overdose of sleeping-powder in what has often been assumed to be suicide. In accordance with her wishes, her papers were destroyed after her death. In her will, she left 60,000 crowns to a scholarship fund for female law students. A memorial volume dedicated to her was published in 1929. In 1997, at the occasion of the 100th anniversary of her disputation for the Doctor of Laws degree, a volume of the yearbook De Lege, was published under the title Elsa Eschelsson: Ad studium et ad laborem incitavit, including a biographical study of Eschelsson by Gunilla Strömholm and other papers by female jurists at the Uppsala Faculty of Law. Since that year, the Faculty of Law has celebrated an "Elsa Eschelsson Day" with a symposium on gender issues every year on May 31.
Academic degree
An academic degree is a position and title within a college or university that is usually awarded in recognition of the recipient having either satisfactorily completed a prescribed course of study or having conducted a scholarly endeavour deemed worthy of his or her admission to the degree...
and the first to attain the academic position of docent
Docent
Docent is a title at some European universities to denote a specific academic appointment within a set structure of academic ranks below professor . Docent is also used at some universities generically for a person who has the right to teach...
at a Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
university, but was denied the right to even serve as acting professor because of her sex. She died from an overdose of sleeping-powder in 1911.
Elsa Eschelsson was born in Norrköping
Norrköping
Norrköping is a city in the province of Östergötland in eastern Sweden and the seat of Norrköping Municipality, Östergötland County. The city has a population of 87,247 inhabitants in 2010, out of a municipal total of 130,050, making it Sweden's tenth largest city and eighth largest...
. As most of the earliest generation of women to study at Swedish universities, she came from a well-to-do bourgeois background, daughter of Anders Olof Eschelsson, the owner of a soap factory who also served as Prussian
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
consul in Norrköping. Elsa's mother Carolina Lovisa Ulrika Frestadius was her husband's cousin and daughter of a prominent Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
industrialist, A. W. Frestadius.
After his wife's death, A. O. Eschelsson settled in Stockholm with his four daughters. At the age of fourteen Elsa lost her father as well and moved in with an older sister, the young dowager countess Anna Piper. Her oldest sister, Ida, was married to Johan Vilhelm Hagströmer, a law professor at Uppsala university
Uppsala University
Uppsala University is a research university in Uppsala, Sweden, and is the oldest university in Scandinavia, founded in 1477. It consistently ranks among the best universities in Northern Europe in international rankings and is generally considered one of the most prestigious institutions of...
. Elsa finished her "studentexamen", the final examination from secondary school, in 1882 and came to Uppsala as a student. She began with a fil. kand. degree in history which she completed in 1885. After graduating, she went on a long journey through Europe and the Middle East, but returned to Uppsala and her studies in the fall. She had shown an early interest in studying Law and after her return she began her law studies, encouraged by her brother-in-law Hagströmer. She received her juris utriusque licentiat and juris utriusque doctor degrees in 1897 and was appointed a docent
Docent
Docent is a title at some European universities to denote a specific academic appointment within a set structure of academic ranks below professor . Docent is also used at some universities generically for a person who has the right to teach...
of civil law at the university.
Eschelsson lectured in process law at the university 1897-1899, taught the so-called propaedeutic
Propaedeutics
Propaedeutics or propedeutics is a historical term for an introductory course into a discipline: art, science, etc. Etymology: pro- + Greek: paideutikós, "pertaining to teaching"....
course in civil law from 1904 and held appointment to examine students taking the civilexamen (a lower law degree qualifying for some civil servant positions). As a woman pioneer in her field, she had supporters in the Faculty of Law, including Ernst Trygger
Ernst Trygger
Ernst Trygger was a Swedish jurist professor and conservative politician. He served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1923 to 1924. He also served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1928 to 1930 in the government of Arvid Lindman...
and her brother-in-law Hagströmer, but also encountered problems; because of her sex, she would not have been allowed to hold an ordinary professorship - this was changed only in 1925 - and, despite the recommendation of the faculty, she was denied even acting as professor in 1898. She had the support of most of the professors in the Law Faculty but was brutally persecuted by civil law professor Alfred Ossian Winroth (1852-1914), who had come from Lund in 1899, until he moved to a professorship at the University in Stockholm in 1907.
She has been described both as shy and ambitious, and as a sensitive person with many highs and lows who kept a formal and distanced relationship to the other women at the university and avoided participating in many of their social activities. She died March 10, 1911, in Uppsala from an overdose of sleeping-powder in what has often been assumed to be suicide. In accordance with her wishes, her papers were destroyed after her death. In her will, she left 60,000 crowns to a scholarship fund for female law students. A memorial volume dedicated to her was published in 1929. In 1997, at the occasion of the 100th anniversary of her disputation for the Doctor of Laws degree, a volume of the yearbook De Lege, was published under the title Elsa Eschelsson: Ad studium et ad laborem incitavit, including a biographical study of Eschelsson by Gunilla Strömholm and other papers by female jurists at the Uppsala Faculty of Law. Since that year, the Faculty of Law has celebrated an "Elsa Eschelsson Day" with a symposium on gender issues every year on May 31.
Publications
- Om begreppet gåfva enligt svensk rätt (1897)
- "Om civiläktenskapets framträdande i svensk och utländsk rätt" (in I vår tids lifsfrågor, XXXI, 1903),
- Bidrag till läran om besittning enligt svensk rätt. Besittningsbegreppet (1904),
- Om fullbordandet af gåfva af lös egendom enligt svensk rättspraxis (1906)
- Ännu några ord om fullbordandet af gåfva af lös egendom enligt svensk rättspraxis. En replik (1907).
- Om skuldebref enligt svensk rätt (1912), edited by L. Rabenius