Elsa Alkman

Elsa Anna Maria Alkman née Ahlström (18 November 1878 – 21 February 1975) was a Swedish

Born on 18 November 1878 in Dalarna, Elsa Anna Maria Ahlström was the only child of the civil engineer Otto Theodor Ahlström (1848–1906) and his wife Clara Elisabeth née Guinchard (1850–1932).^[4] Brought up in a well-to-do home, as a result of her father's work on railway traffic, she spent her childhood in Täby, Gothenburg, Stockholm, Härnösand and Sölvesborg.^[1]

In 1897, she entered the

Alkman took a serious interest in women's suffrage, convinced that it was only a matter of time until it would be granted. In December 1916, she visited Denmark to observed how Danish women were voting for the first time in the referendum. She communicated her findings in an article published in the LKPR's journal Rösträtt för kvinnor. She emphasized how happy all classes of women were to cast their votes and hoped it would not be long before Swedish women could follow in their footsteps.[1]^[3] While in Skåne, she wrote the novel En oförbätterlig (1911) inspired by her suffrage work. Recounting how an operetta signer struggled for the same rights as men in a small town, it was well received good reviews.^[1] In September 1916, she gave birth to a daughter, Inga Linnea.^[4]

In the mid-1920s, the couple moved to Norrköping where Olof had received an appointment. Elsa Alkman was able to revive her interest in music, taking harmony lessons at the conservatory and composing works for local concerts. In the 1930s, she joined the city's branch of the Union of Liberal Women, supporting arrangements and funding for refugees arriving in Sweden.^[1]

Aged 96, Elsa Alkman died on 21 February 1975 in Norrköping where she is buried in the local cemetery.^[1]

References

Further reading

• Elsa Alkman at Svenskt kvinnobiografiskt lexikon