Anna Sinebrychoff – Edelläkävijä

Anna Sinebrychoff (1830–1904) was an exceptional woman who, in the late 1800s, managed one of Finland's most successful companies, the Sinebrychoff brewery. Anna Sinebrychoff's life is closely tied to the history of the art museum itself. She lived in the main apartment of the house on Bulevardi for more than 50 years and left her children a substantial financial and spiritual legacy. Anna Sinebrychoff (1830–1904) received an upper-middle-class girl's education, married the successful businessman Paul Sinebrychoff (1799–1883) in 1850, and they had four children. After her husband's death, she attained a position rare in Finnish conditions: majority shareholder of a large corporation and chair of its board. Anna became the most notable woman of the well-known Sinebrychoff brewing family in the latter half of the 1800s. With determination, she led her family and oversaw the activities of her two sons as the company's directors. The exhibition comprehensively presents Anna Sinebrychoff's life and activities in Helsinki from the 1850s onward. At its centre is Anna as an active influencer: a bearer of responsibility for family and business, a benefactor, an association activist and a member of the Orthodox parish. The exhibition places Anna at the heart of the social and economic changes of her own era.