Miina Sillanpää was born 4. 6. 1866 in Jokioinen at Sillanpää's croft. Miina had a really poor family and nine siblings. No one believed that Miina would rise to be a minister. She started working at the yarn factory in Forssa at the age of 12, after which, she moved to Porvoo to work as a maid. Her original name was Vilhelmiina Riktig, but she changed it when she turned eighteen to Miina Sillanpää. Sillanpää was the first female minister. She worked in the Social Democrat party. She was one of the biggest civil influencers of her time. When she was younger, she worked as a reporter, an inspector and a congressman. As a child she was a factory worker and a handmaiden. Miina died on the 3rd of April, 1952 at the age of 85.
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