Rosina Heikel

Emma Rosina Heikel (17 March 1842 – 13 December 1929) was a Finnish medical doctor and feminist. In 1878, she became the first female physician in Finland, and specialised in gynaecology and paediatrics.

Early life and education Heikel was born in Kaskinen on 17 March 1842 to Carl Johan Heikel and Kristina Elisabet Dobbin. Her father was the mayor of Oulu and Kokkola, and both her brothers Alfred and Emil studied medicine. She attended school in Vaasa, Jakobstad, Porvoo and Helsinki, and was a good student. From a young age she believed that access to education should be equal for all regardless of gender and had decided by 1862 to become a doctor like her brothers. She finished the course in 1866 and returned to Helsinki, where she completed a course in midwifery a year later. She visited Stockholm again in 1869 to receive further tuition in anatomy and physiology.

In 1870, Heikel was allowed to attend physiology lectures at the University of Helsinki, and in 1871 she was given special permission to study medicine at the university.