Gertrud Adelborg was born on 10 September 1853 at
Karlskrona in
Blekinge County, Sweden. She was the daughter of
Naval Captain and nobleman Bror Jacob Adelborg (1816–1865) and his wife Hedvig Catharina af Uhr (1820–1903). She was the sister of book illustrator
Ottilia Adelborg (1855–1936) and textile artist
Maria Adelborg (1849–1940). She never married. Adelborg was educated by a governess at home and in girls' schools. She worked as a teacher from 1874 to 1879, and was employed at
Svea Court of Appeal (Swedish: ) from 1881 to 1883. Adelborg was active within the Swedish women's movement and the struggle for
women's suffrage. She worked for the bureau of the
Fredrika Bremer Association (FBF) from 1884 to 1907 (from 1886 as chairperson of the Stockholm chapter) and was a member of the central committee of FBF from 1897 to 1915. She initiated the FBF Country School for Women (Swedish: ) at
Rimforsa in
Östergötland where she belonged to the school board from 1907 to 1921. In 1899, a delegation from the FBF presented a suggestion of women's suffrage to Prime Minister
Erik Gustaf Boström. The delegation was headed by
Agda Montelius, accompanied by Adelborg, who had written the demand. This was the first time the Swedish women's movement themselves had officially presented a demand for suffrage. Adelborg was a member of the central committee in the
National Association for Women's Suffrage (Swedish: , LKPR) from 1903 to 1906. In 1907, she headed the LKPR delegation which presented their demand to the monarch King
Oscar II of Sweden himself. She reminded Oscar II of the reforms regarding women's rights which had been passed by his father King
Oscar I of Sweden, and continued by expressing her hope that "the son of Oscar I would attach his name to a suggestion of women's suffrage". According to
Lydia Wahlström: "as soon as the king heard the name of his father, his interest was awoken", She was a co-founder of the anti-sex trafficking organization
Vaksamhet. Adelborg lived in retirement at
Gagnef in
Dalarna County. She was awarded the Swedish Royal Medal of
Illis Quorum in 1907. Gertrud Adelborg died in 1942 and was buried in Gagnef. == References ==