Background
Heikel was born in Kaskinen on 17 March 1842 to Carl Johan Heikel and Kristina Elisabet Dobbin. Her father was the mayor of Oulu and Kokkola, and both her brothers Alfred and Emil studied medicine.
Heikel was born in Kaskinen on 17 March 1842 to Carl Johan Heikel and Kristina Elisabet Dobbin. Her father was the mayor of Oulu and Kokkola, and both her brothers Alfred and Emil studied medicine.
She attended school in Vaasa, Jakobstad, Porvoo and Helsinki, and was a good student. She finished the course in 1866 and returned to Helsinki, where she completed a course in midwifery a year later.
In 1878, she became the first female physician in Finland, and specialised in gynaecology and paediatrics. There were no Finnish universities at the time, however, that would allow women to study medicine, and so she travelled to Sweden to train in physiotherapy at the Stockholm Gymnastics Institute. She visited Stockholm again in 1869 to receive further tuition in anatomy and physiology.
In 1870 Heikel was allowed to attend physiology lectures at the University of Helsinki, and in 1871 she was given special permission to study medicine at the university.
She received her medical degree in 1878, becoming the first woman physician in Finland, as well as the first in the Nordic countries. In 1883 the post of city gynaecologist in Helsinki was created for her.
lieutenant was changed to city gynaecologist and paediatrician in 1889. Heikel stayed in the role until 1901 and maintained a private Helsinki practice until 1906.
Outside of medical practice, Heikel was an active proponent of the women"s rights movement and the feminist association Naisasialiitto Unioni.
An advocate of women"s education, she helped to found Konkordia-liitto, an organisation for female academics. In 1888, Heikel spoke at a meeting of the Finnish Medical Society against legalised prostitution, and in 1892 she addressed the Naisasialiitto Unioni to promote equality in educational opportunities for girls and boys. She managed a children"s workhouse and was an advocate for children"s health in rural Finland.
Heikel died on 13 December 1929 in Helsinki, with no surviving family.
She could not register as a member of the Finnish Medical Society until 1884.