Minna Canth

Portrait of Minna Canth by Kaarlo Vuori.

Ulrika Wilhelmina Johnsson (1844 Tampere - 1897 Kuopio), also known as Minna Canth was a Finnish writer and social activist. Canth began to write while managing her family draper's shop and living as a widow raising seven children. Her work addresses issues of women's rights, particularly in the context of a prevailing culture she considered antithetical to permitting expression and realization of women's aspirations. Her play "The Pastor's Family" is her best known. In her time, she became a controversial figure, due to the asynchrony between her ideas and those of her time, and in part due to her strong advocacy for her point of view.

She will be the first woman to receive her own flag day in Finland, beginning March 19, 2007.

Further reading

Toward equality : proceedings of the American and Finnish Workshop on Minna Canth, June 19 - 20th, 1985, Kupio / Hrsg.: Sinkkonen, Sirkka. Kuopio : Yliop., 1986. ISBN 951-780-823-2