This study is about Gulli Petrini, the woman who were a pioneer in womens rights during the beginning of the 20th century, and the way that the local newspapers Wexiobladet and Smalandsposten portrayed her during her time in Vaxjo city council and Vaxjo economical chambers between 1910 and 1914. The study is based on different types of gender based theories wich i will discuss in collaboration with my result from the two newspapers aswell as the two protocols from Vaxjo city council an Vaxjo economical chambers. In the beginning of the 20th century the swedish society were very influenced by divided gender-roles. The expectations of being a woman versus being a man were strongly established so when Gulli Petrini became the first woman who got selected into Vaxjo city council, and two years later Vaxjo economical chambers, it was a bit of a sensation. During her time in her role as a local politician and as a women with strong and firm opinions she rocked the symbolical political boat. Gulli Petrini turned out to be one of many strong-minded women who helped the woman community to achieve the common goal wich was getting the right to vote in 1919.

An expanding field of historical study is interested in examining the connection between gendered spaces in academia and the dynamic identities available within them, inspired by the theoretical framework of the “scientific persona”. By drawing on this discussion, the thesis aims to showcase the institutional and social circumstances through which early female university students came to produce and reshape academic identities in Sweden in the 1890s. It focuses on the establishment of “Uppsala kvinnliga studentförening” (UKSF), the first local university association for women students in Sweden, thus locating the process that produces academic identities at the crossroad of individual and collective strategies and forums. To this end, the thesis analyzes UKSF’s protocols in addition to autobiographical documents by two early members, Lydia Wahlström and Gulli Petrini. The study shows that by providing a collective forum, UKSF managed to enable a wholly new way of being a female student. This process, which shaped both collective and individual identities, was linked to socialization and assimilation. A complete assimilation through the embodiment of an available male academic persona was, however, not possible. Rather, the female students merged identities based on several repertoires. For instance, Lydia Wahlström crystallized a persona drawing on the position as president of UKSF. At times, however, she seems to have embodied male academic personae in male dominated academic spheres. The essay additionally offers approaches to analyzing the long-lasting challenge for female students to aspire an academic career.