Miina Sillanpää

Miina Sillanpää (originally Vilhelmiina Riktig, 4 June 1866 in Jokioinen – 3 April 1952 in Helsinki) was Finland's first female minister and a key figure in the workers' movement. She was also involved in the preparation of Finland's first Municipal Homemaking Act.

Miina Sillanpää was born during the famine years to peasants Juho and Leena (née Roth) Riktig, who had a total of nine children. She started her work career at the age of 12 at the Forssa cotton factory, and later in the Jokioinen nail factory. At the age of 18 she moved to Porvoo to work as a maid and changed her name from Vilhelmiina Riktig to Miina Sillanpää. From 1900 to 1915 she worked as caretaker of the Helsinki Household Workers' Association's Servants' Home and Employment Agency. Sillanpää worked as inspector of eateries and cafés of Osuusliike Elanto from 1916 to 1932 and as secretary of the Social Democratic Party Working Women's Association from 1932 to 1936.

Sillanpää did not have much of a school education – she had only gone to a visiting school (kiertokoulu) and factory school.

Sillanpää was awarded the honorary title of talousneuvos in 1939, and in 1949 she received an honorary reward of her life's work from President Paasikivi.

Miina Sillanpää was not a political theoretician, instead she was active in social democratic association activity. She especially campaigned for the rights of working and lonely women (in the 1930s she was intensely active in the Ensikoti activity). She was a member of the party activity group of the Social Democratic Party from 1918 to 1919 and from 1933 to 1940, and also worked as chairwoman of the Social Democratic Women's Association and the Social Democratic Working Women's Association.

Miina Sillanpää did not participate in the civil war of 1918; together with Väinö Tanner and Matti Paasivuori she opposed both the Red and White Guards and urged for peace in Finland.

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