The Royal Swedish Academy of Music was founded in 1771 with the primary objectives of promoting art music and musical life in Sweden. In 1782, the first woman entered the academy: Elisabeth Olin, prima donna of the newly founded Swedish opera. This essay investigates the academy’s female fellows and its attitude to female musicians. The results show that the academy was relatively open toward women (especially opera singers in the soprano range) during the late 18th century, in 1860−1880 and from the late 1990s and onwards, but elected few women in between. The study also reveals why the academy decided to admit a woman 1782. It appears that the academy was economically indebted to Elisabeth Olin and that she was elected honorary member as an act of gratitude for remitting the debt.