Vera Hjelt

Vera Hjelt (1857—1947) was a Finnish social reformer, politician and a pioneer of occupational safety and health who strove to improve workplace conditions and treatment of workers.

Early life and education

Vera Hjelt was born to a middle-class family, as the second child of school principal Carl Wilhelm Hjelt and Augusta Charlotta née von Pfaler. She had a relatively lenient upbringing: her father did not consider girls' education to be of much importance, and her mother, who had become disabled when Vera was young, could not contribute much towards her education.

She is known to have been an avid reader, and aspired to become a sculptor.

At age 17, she set up a music store in Turku, the first in the city, which she ran for two years.

In 1881, Hjelt graduated from the Ekenäs seminary, qualifying as a teacher, as well as in the same year completing her art studies at the Turku drawing school (Taideyhdistyksen piirustuskoulu). She went on to continue her training at the Nääs School of Crafts in Sweden, qualifying as an arts and crafts teacher in 1885.

Teaching and crafts

In the early 1880s, Hjelt taught at primary school in Hammarland and Turku.

After that, she moved to Nääs, where she at the same time both studied and taught crafts, before returning to Finland and taking up the post of principal of a craft school in Helsinki, which role she held 1885–1897, as well as continuing as a primary school teacher.

Alongside her teaching duties, she set up a steam saw and carpentry factory in Oulunkylä (now part of Helsinki), serving as its director for many years.