Today Finland celebrates the Day of Equality, which is also the birthday of author and social influencer Minna Canth.
Canth is the first Finnish woman to have her own flag day, which has been marked since 2007.
She was born in Tampere in 1844 and studied to be a teacher, but the author, playwright and journalist spent much of her life living in Jyväskylä and Kuopio.
Canth started running a small business when her husband died, and this supported her and her seven children, enabling her to indulge in a love of literature.
Writing in Finnish and Swedish, she championed women’s rights, feminism and other important social topics of the day.
