KAF - The Swedish Association of University Women

At the end of the 19th century, most academic studies were made accessible to Swedish women, but an academic degree did not entitle a woman to hold an office, for example teaching posts at public secondary schools leading to matriculation. University women were also hampered by §28 of the Swedish constitution, stating that only "Swedish men" were entitled to office and employment by the King. As a consequence, on March 24th, 1904, some hundred university-educated women from all over Sweden were organized in a union, ABKF (later KAF), in Stockholm. When the International Federation of University Women (IFUW) came into being in 1919, the Swedish association was affiliated.

The first chairwoman of ABKF was Dr. Elsa Eschelsson, who at first was welcomed by the Faculty of Law in Uppsala, but whose further career was put a stop to with reference to §28. Dr. Eschelsson was succeeded as chairwoman of ABKF by Dr. Karolina Widerström, the first woman MD in Sweden, whose apartment in Stockholm is still used by KAF as a meeting place for local and national meetings and conferences. In 1939, a few weeks before the outbreak of the Second World War, an IFUW congress was held in Stockholm, with Dr. Karin Kock as Vice President. During the war, Dr. Kock substituted for the President, Dr. Stanislawska Adamowicz, who could not be contacted in nazi-controlled Warsaw.

In 1934, several regional branches of ABKF were formed, for example the Western Branch, and the Scanian Branch in southernmost Sweden. At the University of Lund in Scania, the building of a women students' home, "Studentskegården", was made possible in 1937 by the efforts of another chairwoman of ABKF, Dr. Asta Kihlbom. Studentskegården still functions as the home of women students, and is also the meeting point for KAF members in Lund.

In due course, university-educated women were admitted as teachers and headmistresses of public secondary schools, they were allowed to keep positions even if they were married, they were accepted as judges, and granted equal pay to men in the same position. An important barrier fell in 1958, when women were allowed to be ordained clergywomen of the Church of Sweden. During the last decade of the 20th century, Sweden - and Europe - had its first woman vice-chancellor, Dr Boel Flodgren at Lund University, a member of KAF. But the battle is still not over and won. Being legally accepted is not always the same as being readily accepted.

Victories and defeats have alternated during the hundred years of fight for equal opportunities for university women. An impressive account of the steps taken by ABKF/KAF during the first six decades was given by Dr. Greta Wieselgren in her work, "The High Treshold".

The celebration of the 100th anniversary of KAF will take place in Stockholm, on March 20th, 2004, including talks and discussions about university women of yesterday, today, and tomorrow. A book, "Forbidden Fruit on the Tree of Knowledge", will be published in connection with the event.