Rosa Lemberg

Rosa Emilia Lemberg (née Clay; 31 August 1875 – 1959) was a Namibian-born Finnish American teacher, singer and choral conductor. She was also a significant influence in the Finnish-American labor movement of the first half of the 20th century.

Biography Early life Lemberg, who was born in the village of Omaruru, located in the territory of present-day Namibia, was the daughter of British merchant Charles William Clay and Feroza Sabina Hazara from the Bantu tribe, from whom Lemberg was taken away soon after birth. At that time, Lemberg also performed at Jyväskylä's song festival, where she sold photos of herself to the audience. She graduated as a teacher in 1898 and received Finnish citizenship a year later. but life in a small village soon became impossible due to her background; Lemberg rarely left the school due to the prejudices of the villagers.

On the west coast, Lemberg joined the syndicalist Industrial Workers of the World trade union, in which she was later particularly active as a theatre director.

In 2020, the fiction novel Rosa Clay, written by literary researcher Vappu Kannas, was published.