16 Facts About Vera Hjelt

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

Vera Hjelt 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.

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

In 1881, Hjelt graduated from the Ekenas seminary, qualifying as a teacher, as well as in the same year completing her art studies at the Turku drawing school.

Vera Hjelt went on to continue her training at the Naas School of Crafts in Sweden, qualifying as an arts and crafts teacher in 1885.

In 1886, Vera Hjelt was granted a patent for her invention, a portable workbench, which was sold and even exported, including to the USA.

From 1903 until 1918, Vera Hjelt served as an inspector of occupational safety and health, and as a labour statistics researcher from 1906 until 1912.

Vera Hjelt spent much of her time travelling around Finland, visiting factories and workshops, to witness and monitor working conditions first-hand.

Vera Hjelt is known to have got on well with workers, especially women, and enjoyed cordial relations with management who were usually happy to implement her pragmatic and carefully-considered recommendations to improve working conditions.

Vera Hjelt was influential in similar inspector positions being established in Norway and Sweden.

In 1909, Vera Hjelt established an exhibition of occupational safety and health, which she managed and curated until 1931; the exhibition later became a permanent public museum.

Vera Hjelt was the first person in the country to receive the title.

In 1908, Vera Hjelt was elected as a Member of Parliament from the Uusimaa constituency, representing the Swedish People's Party.

Vera Hjelt resigned from her party, and subsequently relinquished her seat in October 1917, on account of having voted, in defiance of her party's policy, for the working time bill providing for a standard eight-hour-working-day.

Vera Hjelt never married; she is known to have confided in her friends that she had many suitors, both "possible and impossible ones", but the only one she was interested in belonged to the latter category.

Vera Hjelt had an active social life, and often entertained, including playing the piano and the accordion to her friends, and is known to have composed some of her own music.