Valborg Olander

Who is Valborg Olander?

Valborg Olander, was a Swedish teacher, politician and suffragette. She is known for her relationship with Selma Lagerlöf.

Valborg Olander became a student at Högre lärarinneseminariet in Stockholm at the age of fifteen in 1876. After graduation, she worked as a teacher in Lidköping, at the elementary for girls in Gothenburg and, from 1888, at the people's academy in Falun. Olander was a strong supporter of woman suffrage: she became the chairman of the local branch of Swedish Society for Woman Suffrage in Falun in 1905 and its representative in its national central comity. She was active as a writer both as a suffragette and as a teacher, and published works about the Swedish language with the linguist professor Gustaf Cederschiöld.

In 1907, Olander became vice chairman of the comity of the Seminarteacher's society and boardmember of the Falun public libraries and in 1908 member of the school council and by the city council appointed to the board of the Academy for Girls in Falun. In 1909, women became eligible to municipal councils, and in the 1910 election, Valborg Olander was elected to the Falun city council for the liberal party, and alongside Elfrida Larsson, the first of her gender in the Falun city council.