Augusta Tonning facts for kids
Hilda Augusta Tonning (1857–1932) was a Swedish teacher and a strong supporter of women's rights. She is best known for her work helping women get the right to vote. With her husband, Pär Tonning, she taught at special schools called folk high schools. They even started their own school in Falun. After her husband passed away, she started a vegetable garden business.
In 1902, Augusta joined the women's movement. She helped create many groups that worked for women's voting rights. During the First World War, she also supported peace efforts. Even after women gained the right to vote in the 1920s, Tonning continued to help women. She offered courses and a welcoming place at her home near Ronneby for other women who had fought for suffrage.
Early Life
Hilda Augusta Grönvall was born in Lund, Sweden, on August 14, 1857. Her father, Johan Henrik Grönvall, was a teacher and later a priest. Her mother was Julia Lovisa Ulrika Grönvall. Augusta was the youngest of four children. When she was five, her family moved to Västra Tomarp, near Trelleborg, because her father became a parson there.
A Teacher and Gardener
In 1879, Augusta married her childhood friend, Pär Tonning. He was the director of a folk high school in Åkarp. They both believed that men and women should work together to make society better. In 1882, at Fornby folk high school, they tried teaching girls. However, this arrangement did not work out.
So, in 1885, Augusta and Pär opened their own private high school for girls. It was called Hästbergs qvinliga folkhögskola. Augusta taught subjects like handicrafts, mathematics, and bookkeeping. When her husband became ill, she took over many tasks that were usually done by men. This included running the small farm they had on the school property. She continued this for ten years until her husband passed away in 1895.
In 1898, Tonning moved to Blekinge to be near her brother. There, she started a market garden. She would transport her vegetables by horse and cart to sell them in the town square in Ronneby.
Fighting for Women's Rights
After attending a women's rights meeting in Kristiania in 1902, Augusta Tonning decided to dedicate her life to supporting equal rights for women. This included the right to vote, also known as suffrage. She became a very active member of groups like the Association for Women's Suffrage in Sweden, which started in 1903.
Augusta was amazing at organizing! She created 35 women's associations in the Ronneby area and across southern Sweden. From 1911, she moved into the center of Ronneby to focus completely on campaigning for women's votes. She broke all records by visiting 195 different places and giving 105 speeches to support a petition for women's suffrage.
She also worked for peace, taking part in "Peace Sunday" on June 27, 1915. That same month, she finished building a property called Solvik. It was in a fishing village called Bökevik and could only be reached by sea. Solvik became a popular place for women who were fighting for suffrage and had attended meetings in Ronneby. Even after women finally got the right to vote, Augusta Tonning continued to support women's causes. She kept an "open house" at Solvik for other women who had worked for suffrage.
Augusta Tonning passed away at her home, Villa Solvik, near Ronneby on August 11, 1932.
