Anna Sundström

Early on, she moved to the capital to serve as a maid, and was in 1808 employed as the housekeeper of Jöns Jacob Berzelius, who was regarded as one of the fathers of modern chemistry.

Berzelius stated : "She is used to all my equipment and their names to such a degree that I could without hesitation make her distill Hydrochloric acid.

"[2] Sundström also administrated his laboratory as well as supervised his students, who affectionally called her "strict Anna".

She was forced to end her employment when Berzelius married Elisabeth Poppius in 1836.

Every year, the Swedish Chemical Society's division of inorganic chemistry selects the best Swedish PhD-thesis in inorganic chemistry and presents the author with the Anna Sundström Award.