Martina Bergman-Österberg

Martina Sofia Helena Bergman-Österberg (née Bergman; 7 October 1849 – 29 July 1915) was a Swedish physical education instructor and women's suffrage advocate. After studying Swedish gymnastics in Stockholm she moved to London, where she founded the first physical education instructor's college in England, in which she admitted women only. Bergman-Österberg pioneered teaching physical education as a full subject within the English school curriculum, with Swedish-style gymnastics at its core. She also advocated the use 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.