Fredrika Runeberg

Fredrika Charlotta Tengström was born in Jakobstad on September 2, 1807. Married to national poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg, Fredrika raised seven sons in Porvoo while conducting her own pioneering literary and feminist work in secret.

She wrote Fru Catharina Boije och hennes döttrar, the very first historical novel written in Finland, set during the Great Northern War, and championed girls' education and women's property rights. She famously invented the almond-and-raspberry pastry Runebergintorttu, traditionally enjoyed across Finland on Runeberg Day.