Maria Raunio

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Maria Raunio
Kansanedustaja Maria Raunio (musketti.M012-HK10002-128).jpg
Member of Parliament
In office
1907–1910
ConstituencyEast Vaasa
Personal details
Born26 May 1872
Keuruu, Grand Duchy of Finland, Russian Empire
Died3 September 1911(1911-09-03) (aged 39)
Astoria, United States
Political partySocial Democratic Party

Maria Raunio (26 May 1872 – 3 September 1911) was a Finnish educator and politician. A member of the Social Democratic Party, she was elected to Parliament in 1907 as one of the first group of female MPs. She remained an MP until 1910.

Biography[]

Raunio was born in Keuruu in 1872.[1] She worked as a seamstress in Keuruu and Tampere, before joining the office of the Kansan Lehti newspaper.[1] She had seven children.[2]

Raunio contested the 1907 elections on the Social Democratic Party's list in East Vaasa and was one of 19 women elected to parliament. She was re-elected in 1908 and 1909. However, she lost her seat in the 1910 elections after being removed from the party's lists due to differences with party officials.[2] During her time in parliament she sat on the Audit Committee, the Education Committee, the Grand Committee and the Pensions Committee.[1]

After leaving parliament, she moved to the United States, where she was an activist for workers' rights before committing suicide aged only 39 in 1911.[1][2]

Girl in the Old Church of Keuruu by Akseli Gallen-Kallela, 1889, where Raunio acted as the model[3]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d Maria Raunio Parliament of Finland
  2. ^ a b c The first women Members of Parliament in Finland, 1907-1908 University of Helsinki
  3. ^ Pohjolainen, Raija (2016). Tyttö Keuruun vanhassa kirkossa. Kellastupa. ISBN 9789525787238.
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