Johanna Hedén

Who was Johanna Hedén?

Johanna Maria Hedén, née Bowall was a Swedish midwife, Feldsher, apothecary and barber. She is the first known licensed female feldsher in Sweden and as such the first known formally educated and trained female surgeon in Sweden.

Johanna Hedén was born in a poor family: her mother died in childbirth because of an incompetent midwife. Her father denied her education because of her gender and provided her a position as a domestic in Stockholm. Her employer, however, persuaded her brother to allow her to study. Hedén took her license as a midwife in 1858, after which she also trained as an apothecary. In 1863, she graduated as a feldsher and barber. she became a teacher at the obstetrics institution i Gothenburg in 1867. Johanna Hedén founded Göteborgs Barnmorskesällskap in 1885, which was the first union for women in her country, Svenska Barnmorskeförbundet in 1886 and the paper Jordemodern for midwifes in 1888.

A street in Gothenburg was named after her.