Maria Christina Bruhn’s name has remained in the history of science as the first woman to be recognised as an inventor in Sweden. Her mother owned a tapestry and wallpaper factory, which she later took over, and her father was a printer. In 1771, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences launched a competition to design fire and water-resistant packaging for gunpowder. In 1774, while preparing the backgrounds for wallpaper panels, M. C. Bruhn had an idea that she proposed. She won the contest. But academicians, unable to imagine that a woman could have invented a technical object on her own, refused to pay her the promised price. It will take 12 years for “Mamsell Bruhn” to finally be recognised and receive her reward... reduced from 6,000 to 166 riksdalers, the currency of the time.
