Born in Nyköping on 21 August 1866, Elin Sofia Elisabeth Kullberg was the daughter of the bookshop owner Emil Gustaf Theodor Kullberg (1835–1897) and his wife Jenny Rosalie Leontina née Krogh (1843–1922). She was one of the family's six children. In 1889, she married the businessman John Hellström (1859–1889) who died just two months after their wedding.[4]
Lilly Kullberg attended Nyköping Elementary Girls' School where she later worked as a teacher from 1885 to 1889. After her husband's death, she became a close friend of her fellow teacher, Stina Quint. The two collaborated on providing better opportunities for children to develop their reading skills. In addition to creating the children's newspaper Folkskolans Barntidning, they published children's books through the bookbinding business established by Lilly Hellström's father.[1]
In 1904, Hellström and Quint moved into a villa in Elfvik on the island of Lidingö. It became a popular meeting place for writers, artists, suffragettes and local politicians. Both were active on the committee of the Moderate Party's women's association in Stockholm, cooperating with
Allmänna valmansförbundet (AVF) on women's suffrage. From 1917, Hellström developed the suffrage association Moderata Kvinnors Rösträttsförening in collaboration with the national LKPR organization.[1]
Lilly Hellström died in Stockholm on 2 March 1930.[4]
