Olga Oinola 1865 – 1949

Olga Oinola was a Finn who became President of the Finnish Women Association. In 1907 the first general election in Finland that had been open to women took place. Nineteen women were elected which was less than 10% of the total members of parliament.

Oinola’s focused her efforts outside her work on temperance and women’s issues. She was a talented speaker with a broad knowledge of the issues. She weighed into contentious issues like women doing night work. Some argued that women should have an equal opportunity to work at night whereas others argues that mothers should not abandon their children at night. Another contentious issue was unmarried mothers who face a lot of recrimination. The women MPs were split over the proposal for the government to supply refuges for these mothers. In Finland the children of unmarried mothers were auctioned up until the 1920s.