Andrea Andreen

Ellenor Andrea Andreen (1888–1972) was a Swedish physician, pacifist and feminist. As a physician, she specialized in the treatment of diabetes, combining dietary restrictions with insulin. A prominent figure in the Swedish women's movement, she became a council member of the Women's International Democratic Federation in 1945, later becoming a vice-president. She chaired the Svenska Kvinnors Vänsterförbund (Swedish Women's Left-wing Association) from 1946 to 1964. A strong proponent of nuclear disarmament, in 1953 she was awarded the Stalin Peace Prize.

Early life, family and education Born on 11 July 1888 in Örby, Västra Götaland County, Andrea Andreen was the daughter of the textile factory director Johan Walfrid Andreen and Eleonore Andreen. Although her parents were conservative and Chartauanist, they believed that their daughters should have the same access to education as their sons. Therefore, Andrea Andreen first attended a private school in Fritsla, and was then educated at home by a governess. She attended Gothenburg's girls gymnasium, matriculating from Hvitfeldtska gymnasiet in 1905. In 1909, she married the chemist and Nobel laureate The Svedberg with whom she had two children, among them Hillevi Svedberg, before the couple divorced in 1914. From 1937 to 1942 she was married to the politician Nils Wohlin.

Medical career She embarked on preliminary medical studies at Uppsala University in 1909 but then interrupted her studies until 1917, graduating in medicine from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm in 1919. During the academic year 1908-1909, she was also active on the board of the Uppsala Christian Student Association. Andreen was active in the Uppsala student association and during the academic year 1913-1914, she held the position of vice president of the association. She was also the director of the Office for Information and Career Counseling of Uppsala Student Associations In the 1930s, Andreen was a member of Frisinnade Kvinnor (Liberated Women) where she contributed to the association's magazine Tidevarvet and promoted sexual hygiene. The organization later became known as Svenska Kvinnors Vänsterförbund (Swedish Women's Left-wing Association). It fought for equal representation of women and men in local and national elections. Andreen chaired the organization from 1946 to 1964. She was one of the Swedish pioneers who promoted the introduction of sports for women, demonstrating that physical exercise was no more harmful to women than to men.

Andrea Andreen died of cancer on 20 April 1972.