Karolina Widerstr\u00f6m was born in Helsingborg, Sweden in 1856. Her father worked variously as an army veterinarian, a physiotherapist, and as a teacher.<\/p>\n
After attending a girls\u2019 school in Helsingborg, Widerstr\u00f6m herself trained as a physiotherapist at the Royal Central Institute for Gymnastics from 1873 \u2013 1875. She then worked as an assistant to Gabriel Branting, head of the Institute. Subsequently Widerstr\u00f6m enrolled at Uppsala university, from where she graduated with a basic medical degree in 1880, becoming the first female physician in Sweden. She then went on to study at Karolinska Institute.<\/p>\n
Following the awarding of her medical degree in 1888 Widerstr\u00f6m was appointed as assistant to Wilhelm Netzel, professor of gynaecology at Karolinska Institute, despite the fact that at that time women were barred from holding university posts.<\/p>\n
In 1889 Widerstr\u00f6m opened her own surgery in Stockholm, and was immediately inundated with a steady stream of female patients. She very quickly realised that they knew nothing about their own bodies, of sexuality, reproduction, or of venereal diseases. From the outset she felt that it was an essential duty of hers to impart knowledge on these matters and she did so by giving public talks and by writing newspaper articles and publishing pamphlets.<\/p>\n
Her article \u201cOm menstruationen och dess hygiene\u201d (About menstruation and its hygiene) was published in the journal\u00a0Idun\u00a0in 1896. It cause offence and two editions later the editor commented that \u201cin order to soothe those who had been upset\u201d the medical articles contained within the journal would in future only concern matters which \u201cwill not give rise to consternation in this regard\u201d.<\/p>\n
Widerstr\u00f6m was not about to be silenced. She published, lectured and politicked on women\u2019s health and their rights, whilst also laying claim to her own rights. A typical example of the latter is an anecdote about how she once insisted that the entry price to one of her talks should be raised. She said,<\/p>\n
The low entry fee is a symptom of the undervaluing of intellectual effort which is increasingly a sign of the times\u201d,<\/p>\n
and then demanded more than double the original price.<\/p>\n
Karolina Widerstr\u00f6m was active in a great many women\u2019s organisations and, following the introduction of general suffrage in 1921, she served as chair of Landsf\u00f6reningen f\u00f6r kvinnans politiska r\u00f6str\u00e4tt (National Women\u2019s Suffrage Association). As a member of the Stockholm town council from 1912\u20131915 her particular concern lay in children\u2019s health and she encouraged physical activity and outdoor experiences.<\/p>\n
Girls\u2019 clothing was an important issue for her. Karolina Widerstr\u00f6m had already been involved as a student, in 1886, in setting up Svenska dr\u00e4ktreformf\u00f6reningen (Swedish Association for the Reform of Women\u2019s Dress) and that same year she gave her first public talk on the subject. She opposed the use of bustles and corsets which impeded freedom of movement and proposed different loose-fitting clothes.<\/p>\n
Widerstr\u00f6m would return to the subject of the physical health of girls throughout her life. She completely rejected the concept \u2013 accepted by doctors and mentioned during school debates \u2013 that puberty in women was a period of weakness. Widerstr\u00f6m believed the opposite was true, that during early puberty girls were often more developed than boys.<\/p>\n
She lived with her mother until the latter\u2019s death in 1909 and then moved in with her friend Maria Aspman. Their apartment at Fleminggatan 30, Stockholm, also served as her surgery.<\/p>\n
Widerstr\u00f6m died in 1949, aged 93, and lies at the Solna cemetery. A street has been named after her in Fru\u00e4ngen, in the southern suburbs of Stockholm \u2013 Doktor Widerstr\u00f6ms gata. In 2013 the Widerstr\u00f6mska building at the Karolinska Institute was named after her.<\/p>\n