Sofia Ahlbom

Who was Sofia Ahlbom?

Sofia Carolina Ahlbom, was a Swedish drawing artist, engraver, lithographer, photographer, map maker, writer, poet and feminist.

Ahlbom's father worked as a goldsmith in Västerås. She displayed an early talent and was tutored by the engraver Grandel. In 1822–32, she managed a school with her sister in parallel with being a professional engraver before she moved to the capital. In 1842–43, she was active in Paris. She was employed as a map maker by the University of Navigation in Stockholm, made the inscriptions for the medals of Stockholm Arts and Crafts School and the War Academy in Karlberg, as well as the heraldry book for the Swedish House of Lords. She was a photographer from the 1860s, and was a published novelist and poet.

She was also a feminist and engaged in one of the most debated feminist issues of the day in the 1850s, which was headed by Josefina Deland; the establishment of a pension system for women teachers. After this was accepted by the government, she was the secretary of the organisation in 1859–64. She never married, and lived together with her sister. Fredrika Bremer mentioned her in Livet i gamla världen.