Martina Bergman-Österberg, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death
TweetMartina Bergman-Österberg
Swedish physical education instructor
Date of Birth: 
Place of Birth: Hammarlunda, Skåne County, Sweden
About Martina Bergman-Österberg
- Martina Sofia Helena Bergman-Österberg (née Bergman; 7 October 1849 – 29 July 1915) was a Swedish-born physical education instructor and women's suffrage advocate who spent most of her working life in Britain.
- After studying gymnastics in Stockholm she moved to London, where she founded the first physical education instructor's college in England, to which she admitted women only.
- Bergman-Österberg pioneered teaching physical education as a full subject within the English school curriculum, with Swedish-style gymnastics (as opposed to the German model) at its core.
- She also advocated the wearing of gymslips by women playing sports, and played a pivotal role in the early development of netball.
- Bergman-Österberg was an advocate of women's emancipation, directly encouraging women to be active in sport and education, and also donating money to women's emancipation organisations in her native Sweden.
- Several of her students founded the Ling Association, which later became the Physical Education Association of the United Kingdom.
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