Black and white photo of Hilda Käkikoski, a white woman with light hair pulled back, round glasses, and a grey dress with big puffy sleeves.
“My hikes were many and long. I gave at least 100 presentations. My spiritual people celebrated me and my opponents hated me. As I live, I will not forget this wonderful winter.”
– Hilda Käkikoski
One of the first nineteen women to be elected into the Finnish parliament and a lesbian with multiple relationships with women, Hilda Käkikoski, was a groundbreaker in many ways. Working for equal pay for women, improving education, and free food for children at school, she can easily be mistaken for a progressive politician, but that was not the case. Anti-sex worker, very religious, and part of the conservative party of Finland, Käkikoski was not what one might automatically think of when they hear of a lesbian, feminist, or activist.
Born on January 31st, 1864, Käkikoski’s father died when she was quite young, and when her mother remarried, she married a man who didn’t support girls receiving an education. Growing up, Käkikoski did not fit into this worldview. Singled out as a smart, ambitious child, she received a scholarship and moved to Helinski at age 14. Going to a private all-girls school, Käkikoski was able to flourish, dressing the way she wanted, cutting her hair short, and exploring her sexuality.
She went on to study Finnish and Nordic history in university and earn a Ph.D., tutoring her way through school and becoming a teacher. Along with being a teacher, she was also a vegetarian, gymnast, cyclist, and writer.
Her interest in writing would develop alongside her interest in women’s suffrage. With Finland just on the cusp of not only allowing women to vote but to be voted for, she would write about feminism in the Finnish Women’s Association magazine, which she was also a member and vice president of.
Along with nineteen other women, she was elected into parliament in 1907. She represented the Finnish Party, changing the shape of Finnish politics.
““Personally, I for one, am happy that I got to be involved in the first election campaign”
She took her political career seriously, both before and after being elected. She was known as an especially diligent worker, studying the minutes of meetings. She worked on women’s rights, improved the Finnish educational system, and spoke out as a moralistic and anti-sex worker politician who believed in chastity above all else.
It is clear that her politics were a mixed bag. The feminist movement at the time was largely based on the idea that women were more naturally morally pure than men, a popular idea in Europe at the time. She seemed to believe this, and because of this, she was particularly harsh and judgmental of other women, specifically women who were not following her own internal rules on sexual expression.
She was in a relationship with activist Fanny Pajula, and the two lived together for six years when Pajula died. Later, she would have relationships with Hildi Ennola, Frances Weiss, Hanna Masalin, and Helmi Kivalo, all at the same time, though it is hard to find if this situation was agreed upon by all participants.
In her political life, though she was incredibly popular in her constituency, she was unable to run for reelection after her first term because of her declining health, she described the situation saying:
"Personally, I for one, am happy that I got to be involved in the first election campaign, to be included in a large spring of the nation's awakening, to be involved where the most decisive, the most dangerous battles were fought, self-ignite, the other to light, to get to forget physical infirmity and feel, the spirit’s worth and control.”
Throughout her life, she deeply valued caring for children. She wrote children's poems, songs, and short stories until her death on 14 November 1912.
[Disclaimer: some of the sources may contain triggering material]
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