Amy Segerstedt

Amy Segerstedt (12 November 1835 – 16 November 1928) was a Swedish teacher, folk teacher, and philanthropist. She was the founder of the Braille Loan Library in Stockholm,[1] and the Foreningen for blindskrift (Association for Blind Characters) in Sweden.[2] She was particularly interested in girls' vocational training.

Amy Segerstedt, 1892

Biography

Amy Johanna Fredrika Segerstedt was born in Åmål on 12 November 1835. Her father was Fredrik Segerstedt (d. 1856), a provincial doctor in Åmål. She had three sisters, Amy, Lovisa, and Wilhelmina, as well as one brother, Vitalis.[3]

The family moved to Uppsala in 1860, where Segerstedt trained as a teacher at Klosterskolan (Thengbergska school) in 1861. She worked in 1861-1874 as a governess and in 1874–1879, as a teacher at Clara Lind's girls' school in Gävle. Her final year of training, 1879–1880, was at a teacher seminar at Falu folk high school seminar, where she graduated in 1880. That same year, she became director of the newly-established elementary school for girls in Åmål. After studying the "Hillic speech method" at schools for the deaf in Denmark and Norway, she became the director of Tysta school in Stockholm in 1882, remaining until 1894.[3]

At a conference in 1885 in Paris, she saw the private Braille library created by the nobleman, Maurice de La Sizeranne. In April 1892, she founded the Föreningen för blindskrift (Association for Braille), which published current literature in Braille. In December of that year, she opened a small lending library. It was housed in the Silent School in 1892–1895, then moved to the Blind Association, which in 1912 took it over and developed it into the Tal- och punktskriftsbiblioteket (Swedish Library of Talking Books and Braille, TPB), which is now called the Myndigheten för tillgängliga medier (MTM) (Authority for Available Media). MTM distributes the Amy prize, which is named after her.[4]

In 1901, Segerstedt and her younger sister Helmina moved to Gothenburg, and in 1912, Segerstedt moved back to Åmål to be close to her oldest sister, Louise Larsson.[3] Segerstedt died on 16 November 1928 and is buried in the brother-in-law's (Petter Larsson) family grave at Åmål cemetery.

References
  1. Hedberg, Walborg; Arosenius, Louise (1914). "92 (Svenska kvinnor från skilda verksamhetsområden : Biografisk uppslagsbok)". runeberg.org (in Swedish). Retrieved 5 July 2019.
  2. Riemsdijk 1969, p. 109.
  3. Christensen Sköld, Beatrice. "Amy Johanna Fredrika Segerstedt". www.skbl.se (in Swedish). Svenskt kvinnobiografiskt lexikon. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
  4. "Myndigheten för tillgängliga medier - Amy-priset" (in Swedish). Myndigheten för tillgängliga medier. 16 September 2013. Archived from the original on 16 September 2013. Retrieved 5 July 2019.

Biography

Further reading
  • Christensen Sköld, Beatrice (2009). Amy Segerstedt : Punktskriftsbibliotekets grundarinna. Enskede: Talboks- och punktskriftsbiblioteket. ISBN 9789188132437.
  • Segerstedt, Amy Johanna Fredrika (1893). Föreningen för blindskrift, dess uppkomst och utveckling : Föredrag hållet vid föreningens årssammanträde, den 21 april 1893. [Undert. :A.S-gdt.] Stockholm.
  • Amy Segerstedt at Svenskt kvinnobiografiskt lexikon
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