Elfrida Andrée

Elfrida Andrée was a Swedish musician, composer, and advocate of women’s rights. She became a professional organist in 1857—a unique accomplishment for a woman at this time—and served as the cathedral organist in Göteborg for over half a century. Andrée composed numerous symphonies, songs, cantatas, chamber pieces, choral masses, and an opera. In 1865, she spearheaded a campaign that enabled women to become telegraph operators, and in the same year she became Sweden’s first female telegraphist. Elected director of Göteborg’s Worker’s Institute Concerts, Andrée was also the first woman in Sweden to conduct a symphony orchestra.