Elisabeth Forsell
1747) was a Swedish weaver regarded as a pioneer within the linen industry in Finland, where she was active from 1739 to 1747.In response to a growing need of yarn, the Stockholm authorities founded spinning schools in 1739.She was given a power of attorney to demand any assistance necessary from the Finnish authorities and a spinning jenny: this was not the English version, but a different model, constructed by Abraham Hedman of Kättsta.Her students were likely exclusively women, as the profession of weaver was at that time customarily regarded as a woman's profession, and the majority of her students are described as maidservants, wives and daughters of craftsmen, though, reportedly, some women from the upper classes were also interested to learn the technique.She is last mentioned in 1747; after this year, her life is unknown, but she is believed to have returned to Sweden proper, and left her weaving school to her student Juliana Garberg.