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she daily gives to the poor people of
Stockholm, who hurry through her open doors with their wounds and injuries; they would, as much as we do, be taken by admiration upon the never ending patience, the good humour and the generosity, by which she gives her time, her care and her ointments to the thousands, who have nothing to give her but the thank you which for some low minded people are made to be ungrateful. They would as we do feel a wish to give her a better location for her good work, than the one she now has more or less on the street, and means to continue it without too much loss, and then they would, perhaps, more happily do what they wish.
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began to spread about her knowledge in health care and she was more and more sought after by clients around
Stockholm for medical treatment. Initially her patients were poor folk but as time progressed wealthier people began to hire her and paid handsomely for her services. Not long after, she was able to leave her position as a maid, and from circa 1840, could support herself solely as, in effect, a doctor.
117:. She was lawfully practicing surgeon long before it became formally permitted for women to study medicine at a university in 1870. Lovisa Åhrberg could be regarded as the first female physician in Sweden with formal permit from the authorities to practice medicine: however, she had no formal training, and the first woman physician with a university degree was to be
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The novelty of a female doctor of the time was illustrated by the fact that Åhrberg was normally not referred to as "doctor" but called "The wound healer doctoress" and "Maiden Åberg". Åhrberg is portrayed in a book about famous
Swedish women published in 1864–1866. Her clinic is here described as a
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Upon examination, however, Lovisa Åhrberg was deemed to have sufficient medical knowledge for the practice she was conducting and free from all forms of harmful practice. She was thereby acquitted from quackery and given permission to practice medicine, despite the fact that this was formally banned
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While Lovisa Åhrberg was in practice a successful and popular medical practitioner, she had no license to practice as a doctor. Her training and knowledge, though apparently efficient and sufficient, had no background in any formal medical training or medical degree. This was in any case impossible
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to work as a domestic maid for a middle-class family. In her spare time she helped people afflicted with various injuries, wounds and illnesses. Evidently, this started when her help was requested by friends from
Uppsala, where her background was known. Because of her successful treatments the word
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Be it permissible for me to here utter a word of regard and recognition for the doctoress in
Stockholm, Miss Årberg, and add the wish that some of the wealthy people, who occasionally send their carriages to fetch the skillful doctoress, would like to, at one time or another, witness the reception
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Britta Maria Upgren. Her grandmother had also reportedly been an active practitioner of "folk medicine" and nursing. In the early 19th-century, nurses were merely uneducated helpers to the doctors. During her childhood, Lovisa accompanied her mother to hospitals as well as visits to the houses of
182:, who was given special dispensation to practice dentistry despite the fact that this was prohibited for females. An additional reason for her acquittal was that Åhrberg was foremost active as a surgeon and that the medical aid she offered her patients' illnesses were natural herbal remedies.
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In contrast to her contemporary
Kisamor, who was also a popular female medical practitioner, but who had a long tradition of "folk healing" to support herself in her activity in the countryside, Åhrberg was met with great opposition from male doctors when she started to become known as a
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for several years before opening her own practice in 1865: she was officially referred to as a nurse, but the profession of a trained nurse did not exist at the time she was listed as such, so her profession seem to have been as difficult to define as that of Åhrberg herself.
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In 1871, Lovisa Åhrberg became blind and retired. She lived a comfortable life in her retirement, as she left a fortune when she died. Only one student was ever reported to have been tutored as her apprentice, a certain "Doctoress
Henricsson", who worked at the
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157:, such as Hanna Svensdotter (1798–1864), who was widely reputed as "The Doctoress in Wram" for her specialty in treatment of leg injuries "far outside of Scania". The practice of Lovisa Åhrberg was however regarded as more controversial.
225:"poor man's clinic" because she so often treated poor people. This contemporary book reports, that Åhrberg's own health had become so damaged by hard work that she on several occasions had to take leave and rest in the resort of
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One can only hope, that the only too much applied strength to at least some extent will continue to support her, to benefit the great number of people, who still rely upon her care.
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self-supporting female doctor in the city. Formal charges were directed against her, and she was duly investigated by the medical authorities for
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sick people. She was never formally a student at any medical school but she was informally educated in medicine by observation.
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becoming the first woman physician with a formal medical university degree and license to practice medicine.
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This was in practice not that unusual: in the countryside, women practiced medicine under the role of
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for a female at the time, as women were not allowed to study medicine at the university before 1870.
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runeberg.org
Anteqningar om Svenska kvinnor (Notes on Swedish women)
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Kirurgernas historia. Om badare, barberare och fältskärer
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Kirurgernas historia. Om badare, barberare och fältskärer
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Kirurgernas historia. Om badare, barberare och fältskärer
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Kirurgernas historia. Om badare, barberare och fältskärer
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As an adult, Lovisa Åhrberg settled in the capital of
185:On 12 May 1852, Lovisa Åhrberg was awarded by King
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109:(17 May 1801 – 26 March 1881) was a Swedish
89:Possibly the first female doctor in Sweden.
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27:First recognised female doctor in Sweden
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207:, who mentions her in her famous novel
129:Lovisa Åhrberg was born in Uppsala in
436:19th-century Swedish women physicians
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395:Svenskt kvinnobiografiskt lexikon
431:19th-century Swedish physicians
377:Svenskt biografiskt handlexikon
229:. The article ends the report:
373:Runeberg (1864-1866) (Swedish)
333:Hertha eller en själs historia
322:Hertha eller en själs historia
203:Lovisa Åhrberg was admired by
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441:Swedish women surgeons
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192:Medborgerlig Förtjänst
369:Wilhelmina Stålberg:
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34:Maria Lovisa Åhrberg
421:People from Uppsala
254:Karolina Widerström
241:Serafimerlasarettet
119:Karolina Widerström
283:ssa.stockholm.se,
135:Uppsala University
187:Oscar I of Sweden
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52:17 May 1801
405:Categories
260:References
137:, and the
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250:Stockholm
213:in 1856:
147:Stockholm
125:Biography
69:Stockholm
227:Carlsbad
172:quackery
131:Uppland
111:surgeon
101:Åhrberg
56:Uppsala
379:(1906)
362:, 2017
347:, 2017
312:, 2017
299:, 2017
210:Hertha
115:doctor
106:Årberg
99:Lovisa
97:Maria
83:Notes
113:and
63:Died
49:Born
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