Women in the India Mission: Biographical Notes
Author: Annette Kalletka, Director of the Leipzig Mission / Annette Kalletka, Direktorin des Leipziger Missionswerks
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Ester Petersson, born on 16 July 1866 in Holkaberg, Sweden. In 1890 she was called into the Swedish mission service in the Tamil Mission and assigned to a girls’ school in Madurai; in 1897 she was transferred to Coimbatore, in 1901 — back to Madurai, in 1907 — to Pattukkottai, and in 1910 she came to Tirupattur. After 36 years of service she retired in 1926, but continued her work in the Madurai Zenana Mission and, after a stay in Sweden, still worked in Tiruchirappalli. Only in 1932 did she return to her homeland in Sweden.
Margarete Grote, born on 30 May 1866 in Hanover. She trained as a teacher, worked from 1885 to 1890 in the Russian Baltic governorates, was accepted into the mission service in 1891 and assigned to South India; she was intended for the post of head of the Thanjavur girls’ school, but initially remained in Madras and devoted herself to language studies. The following year she became engaged to a German merchant and later Madras consul, after which she left the mission service.
Auguste Hensolt, born on 19 June 1864 in Gunzenhausen, the daughter of a pastor, attended the teachers’ seminary in Memmingen and passed her graduation examination in 1882. On 29 September 1883 she entered the Neuendettelsau deaconess institution, working at first as a probationary sister in the rescue home in Neuendettelsau, then at the children’s school in Thurnau, and from 1887 until the beginning of July 1895 she worked as a teacher at the convent school of St. Marienberg near Helmstedt. On 18 September 1895 she was assigned from Neuendettelsau to India; on 1 August 1896 she took over the girls’ school in Thanjavur, in January 1902 she moved to Tiruchirappalli to open a girls’ trade school there, after which she took over the girls’ school and parish care in Madras. In 1909 she was transferred to the girls’ school in Thanjavur, but in the summer of 1912, for reasons of health, she left the mission service and returned to the service of her mother house. She died on 6 June 1923 in Neuendettelsau.
Emma von Soden, born on 13 February 1866 in Neuhaus an der Aller, the daughter of a nobleman, lost both her parents in 1874 and received a careful upbringing in the home of the chief bailiff Garke at Wiedelah Castle in the Harz. She completed a kindergarten pedagogy course in Braunschweig, studied English and French at a boarding school in Hanover, worked as a teacher in Scotland from 1885 to 1887, and after a brief period as an assistant teacher at the “red school” in Neuendettelsau, entered the deaconess school. As a probationary sister she worked in Schweinfurt, Nuremberg and the Neuendettelsau pharmacy; on 9 July 1895 she came to the Leipzig mission house and on 18 September 1895 was assigned from Neuendettelsau to India. She took over the leadership of the girls’ school in Madras, in 1903 — the girls’ secondary school in Thanjavur, in 1910 she was assigned to Coimbatore, in 1911 transferred to Thanjavur, and from 1914 devoted herself entirely to Zenana work, that is, women’s mission. In November 1915 she was forced to leave India, after which she once again entered the service of the Neuendettelsau mother house. On 29 June 1944 she passed away in Neuendettelsau.
Hildegard Procell, born on 9 August 1869 at Schwarzeckshof near Riga as the daughter of a nobleman, was educated at the Riga higher girls’ school. From 1889 she worked as a teacher in various Russian governorates, in 1896 entered the Leipzig mission house and was assigned to South India, where she was stationed in Madurai. In September 1897 she passed the Tamil language examination, in July 1901 she was transferred to Coimbatore, on 15 August 1903 she left Coimbatore to travel home, but in September 1905 she returned to India. She was then assigned to women’s mission work in Mayavaram. Owing to illness she had to leave India in January 1909; she returned to Riga as a local professional worker and later worked in Germany until the summer of 1914. Before the outbreak of the war she visited her homeland but could no longer return, and at the end of 1917 she was pensioned off due to declining health. She died on 8 March 1948 in Spangenberg, in the Kassel district.
Helene Fränkel, born on 10 January 1873 in Kleinwolmsdorf in Saxony, where her father was a pastor, passed her teacher’s examination in 1898 in Droyßig near Zeitz. From October 1898 to March 1899 she was in Leipzig to learn Tamil, and from Easter to Pentecost 1899 — at the Neuendettelsau deaconess house, where she especially trained in the care of the sick. In India she was stationed in Madurai, in 1900 she moved to Thanjavur, in the first months of 1902 she fell ill with cerebral typhus, and therefore in January 1903 she returned home due to illness and in 1905 left the mission service. She afterwards entered the school service in her homeland and in 1912 again worked for the mission as a local professional worker. On 1 July 1932 she retired. Helene Fränkel died on 25 December 1955.
Käte Schmidt, born on 21 June 1874 in Rothhausen, in Lower Franconia, where her father was a teacher, entered the Neuendettelsau deaconess school in 1893 and as a probationary sister worked in children’s schools in Gunzenhausen, Wilmars and Schwarzenbach. From 1898 to 1901 she led the boys’ department of a Nuremberg care institution, in the spring of 1901 she renewed the wish she had already expressed in 1895 to enter the mission service, on 1 July 1901 she went to Leipzig to learn Tamil, and on 1 September 1901 in Neuendettelsau she was assigned to India through the intermediary of mission senior Handmann. At the end of October 1901 she arrived in India and was stationed in Madras, but in 1903 transferred to Tiruchirappalli. On 2 December 1903 she passed the Tamil language examination, in January 1908 she went home due to illness and at the beginning of 1909 left the mission service, since her state of health did not allow her to be sent out again.
Lina Streng, born on 29 August 1867 in Burgsalach, in Lower Franconia, where her father was a pastor, attended the higher girls’ school in Fürth and the preparatory school at the seminary in Memmingen. After her father’s death she moved with her mother to Fürth, entered the Neuendettelsau deaconess school in September 1885, worked as a teacher in the institution’s schools, as a parish deaconess in Erlangen, at the rest home in Oberndorf and as senior sister at the municipal orphanage in Nuremberg. She then applied for the mission service, was assigned to India in Neuendettelsau on the second Sunday of Advent 1902 and stationed in Coimbatore, on 2 January 1905 passed the Tamil language examination, in 1911 took over the women’s mission work in Madras, in the spring of 1913 returned to her former post in Coimbatore, but after the outbreak of the First World War, in November 1915, was forced to leave India aboard the ship “Golconda” and once again entered the service of the Neuendettelsau mother house. On 20 August 1946 she passed away in Neuendettelsau.
Aurelie Herget, born on 27 June 1872 in Niederdorf, in the Ore Mountains, where her father was a teacher, took a course at the children’s teachers’ seminary in Dresden from 1890 to 1891. She then took over the leadership of the Amalien School in Altenburg and at Easter 1893 entered the Dresden deaconess house, in 1896 was consecrated as a deaconess and worked for 3.5 years at the hospital in Meissen, but in October 1900 took over the leadership of the municipal hospital in Bischofswerda. In 1903 she moved to the Luisenstift in Niederlößnitz to study English and Tamil, and on 9 December 1903, under the leadership of mission senior Handmann, was assigned at the Dresden deaconess house to India, where she was stationed in Tranquebar. In 1905 she was transferred to Tiruchirappalli, and on 11 December 1905 she passed the Tamil language examination. In November 1912 she came to Germany on leave, but in 1914, owing to the outbreak of the First World War, she could not return to India as planned, and therefore took on military hospital service and once again entered the service of her mother house. Her life’s work ultimately became the Marthastift of that time in Bautzen. On 3 March 1959 she peacefully passed away in her rest home, the Hedwig-Fröhlich-Haus in Radebeul.
Martha Pamperin, born on 26 October 1880 in Thanjavur as the eldest daughter of the missionary Pamperin, worked from February 1904 to December 1905 in the Swedish diocese in Madurai as a replacement for Sister Petersson during her leave, after which she left the mission service and on 10 January 1906 married the missionary architect Schulz.
Marie Pamperin, born on 22 October 1881 in Thanjavur, where her father served as a missionary, was at first employed as a teacher in the home of a pastor, until at the beginning of 1903 she applied for the mission service. On 3 September 1903 she received her vocation, at the beginning of October 1903 she arrived in India and was stationed in Tranquebar, but at the end of February 1905 was transferred to Madras. In November 1915 she had to leave India aboard the ship “Golconda”, on 15 January 1916 she arrived in Leipzig, entered the local school service and thereby left the mission service.
Ami Lagerqvist, born on 9 January 1874 in Stockholm, attended a girls’ school for seven years, took theoretical and practical courses at a hospital from 1896 to 1898, and afterwards worked as a teacher and carer. On 2 June 1903 she was assigned to South India (now Tamil Nadu), but first learned English in England, and on 1 January 1904 travelled to India. From 1904 to 1905 she studied the local Tamil language in Madurai. Later her task was the education of girls and women, including theological education. In 1908 she worked in Pattukkottai, in 1913 in Tirupattur, as well as in Virudupatti, Pattukkottai, Pudukkottai and Tiruchirappalli; in 1924 she was transferred to Porayar, but later worked in Tranquebar, Tirupattur and Pudukkottai. Zenana work, that is, women’s mission, was always an important part of her mission life. On 1 January 1934 she retired and afterwards lived in Tranquebar, where she continued to work in women’s mission. She died on 30 November 1967.
Rosa Busch, born on 9 September 1879 in Königstein in Saxony, where her father was a teacher, attended a course at the Dresden children’s teachers’ seminary from 1896 to 1897, entered the Dresden deaconess house in 1897 and on 19 May 1903 was consecrated as a deaconess. She led the mother house children’s school, responded to a call to the mission service and in January 1903 moved to the Luisenstift in Niederlößnitz to learn English together with Aurelie Herget and to study Tamil under the missionary Zehme. On 9 December 1903 she was assigned in Dresden, under the leadership of mission senior Richard Handmann, to South India (now Tamil Nadu), and on 23 January 1904 she arrived in Colombo. She was stationed in Tranquebar, in 1905 transferred to Coimbatore, on 11 December 1905 successfully passed the language examination, but at the end of 1907 was recalled by her mother house.
Elisabeth Schüler, born on 30 December 1876 in Meyenburg near Bremen as the daughter of a pastor, after finishing school helped her mother in the household, in 1902 entered the Henriettenstift and on 27 June 1905 was consecrated as a deaconess. In 1905 she was accepted into the India mission service, on 10 September 1905 her assignment took place, and on 12 October 1905 she arrived in Tranquebar. In 1906 she was transferred to Thanjavur. In October 1907 she passed the Tamil language examination. In 1911 she worked briefly in Coimbatore, after which she returned to Thanjavur. During her return to Germany the First World War prevented her from travelling abroad again. She returned to the service of her mother house and for more than thirty years worked at the old people’s home Alt-Bethesda in Hanover. From the beginning of July 1959 she lived at the Henriettenstift rest home in Hanover, where she died in 1969.
Eva von Gernet, born on 15 September 1869 at the Sellenküll manor in Estonia as the daughter of a nobleman, in 1887 passed the state teacher’s examination in Reval and from 1892 to 1894 worked in Destedt near Braunschweig as a governess. In 1905 she was accepted into the mission service in South India (now Tamil Nadu), was stationed in Mayavaram, in 1907 transferred to Porayar and in October of the same year passed the Tamil language examination. From April 1908 to February 1909 she was in Coimbatore, from August 1928 to January 1930 in Kumbakonam, but otherwise always in Mayavaram. In June 1932 she retired, but in February 1934 returned to India again to take over the supervision of the girls’ school in Porayar. In 1936 she handed over this work and again retired, moving to the old people’s home in Schwetz on the Vistula. After the outbreak of the Second World War, in the spring of 1945, she had to flee from the Russians to the Gdańsk region. The home was liquidated in April, and mission sister von Gernet died on 17 May 1945 from exhaustion and an intestinal illness.
Pauline Karlmark, born on 29 December 1868 in Åmål, Sweden, attended a higher girls’ school, then a kindergarten teachers’ and elementary school teachers’ seminary and worked as a parish school teacher, until she decided to devote herself to mission work. On 15 February 1905 she was assigned to India, but first learned English in England, on 1 November 1905 travelled to India and there, from 1906 to 1908, learned the local Tamil language in Virudupatti and Pudukkottai. In 1908 she was stationed in Madurai, where she worked as a teacher. From 1924 to 1924 she worked in Madras, but from 1927 to 1931 — in Madurai, in both cases again caring for the education of girls and the supervision of the boarding school attached to it. In May 1931 she returned to Sweden and in 1932 retired. She died on 23 January 1946.
Emma Carlberg, born on 10 February 1880 in Wehlen, in Mecklenburg, the daughter of a master potter, after her confirmation worked in the household — both in her own and in other people’s households. She entered the Hanover Henriettenstift and in 1905 was accepted into the India mission service. On 10 September 1905 director von Schwartz assigned her to her work, in October 1905 she arrived in Tranquebar, in August 1906 was transferred to Tiruchirappalli and in October 1907 passed the Tamil language examination. For a time she worked in Coimbatore, after which she returned to Tiruchirappalli; in 1913 she went home on leave and during the First World War once again entered the service of her mother house. She died on 20 October 1959 at the Hanover Henriettenstift.
Maria Petersson, born on 22 July 1875 in Skagershult, Sweden, attended a Bible course and a nurses’ course from 1903 to 1904, after which she worked as a teacher and carer. On 4 April 1907 she was assigned to India, on 18 October 1907 she travelled to India and first, from 1907 to 1909, learned Tamil in Madurai. She died in Madurai on 21 October 1909.
Elena Håkansson, born on 25 July 1881 in Malmö, Sweden, attended an elementary school teachers’ seminary and from 1903 to 1907 worked as a teacher. On 4 April 1907 she was assigned to India and on 18 October 1907 she travelled to India. From 1907 to 1910 she first studied Tamil in Pudukkottai, after which she worked there as a teacher; in June 1914 she went home on leave, in 1920 returned to India and was stationed in Mayavaram. Her task was the care of girls and women’s mission work. In December 1921, owing to illness, she had to return definitively to Sweden, and she entered the home mission service. She died on 20 September 1957.
Johanna Herget, born on 7 October 1875 in Niederdorf in the Ore Mountains, the younger daughter of the teacher and of Aurelie Herget, from January 1892 to September 1893 attended the Marienschule in Bethesda-Niederlößnitz, worked in various places and in August 1903 entered the Dresden deaconess house. On 17 August 1910 mission inspector Weishaupt assigned her in Dresden to work in Coimbatore, but from April 1911 she worked in Tiruchirappalli, because in Coimbatore the plague made both Zenana work and teaching almost impossible. In September 1912 she passed the second Tamil language examination, but in November 1913 was forced to leave India aboard the ship “Golconda”, on 14 January 1916 returned to Leipzig and entered the service of her mission house. On 6 November 1945 she died at the Radebeul rest home.
Else Frey, born on 31 October 1881 in Seifhennersdorf, in the Vogtland, in 1902 entered the Dresden deaconess house and first worked at the municipal hospital in Dresden-Johannstadt, and also for three months attended classes at the kindergarten teachers’ seminary in Dresden and studied English. From 12 January 1909, in Leipzig, mission senior Handmann introduced her to the Tamil language, and on 25 March 1909, in Dresden, mission director von Schwartz assigned and stationed her in Tiruchirappalli. On 20 February 1911 she passed the language examination, took over the work in Mayavaram, from 1913 — in Tiruchirappalli, but after the outbreak of the First World War, in November 1915, together with the others, was forced to leave India aboard the ship “Golconda” and returned to her mother house. On 24 October 1926 she was again sent to India and stationed in Mayavaram. On 15 August 1935, for reasons of health, no longer able to bear the tropical climate, she left the mission service and returned to the Dresden mother house. In the summer of 1946 she became the head of the Naemi-Wilke-Stift in Guben, but in the spring of 1959, gravely ill, she returned to the hospital of the Dresden deaconess house and on 26 April 1959, at the age of 78, was called into eternity.
Stina Wern, born on 8 December 1883 in Stockholm, in 1902 passed the secondary school leaving examination in Stockholm, studied medicine in Uppsala and attended a nurses’ course, after which, on 13 October 1910, she was assigned to India as a carer for the sick. In November 1910 she travelled to India, from 1910 to 1912 learned Tamil in Madurai, Kodai and Tirupattur and afterwards worked at the hospital in Tirupattur. On 1 July 1913 she left the mission service and married Mr. Pettander. She died on 28 June 1969.
Ingrid Ahlstrand, born on 13 February 1885 in Apuna, Sweden, attended a higher girls’ school and an elementary school teachers’ seminary, after which she worked as an elementary school teacher. On 16 December 1909 she was assigned to India, on 3 October 1910 she travelled to India and from 1912 to 1913 worked as a teacher in Madurai. On 20 June 1913 she married the missionary Johannes Sandegren and thereby left active mission service.
Henriette Hansen, born on 20 October 1887 in Tiflis (Tbilisi) in the Caucasus as the daughter of a pastor, attended a higher girls’ school in St. Petersburg, from April 1906 to March 1908 — a teachers’ seminary in Koblenz, passed her graduation examination as a teacher for middle and higher girls’ schools and afterwards worked as a teacher in St. Petersburg. On 2 September 1911 she received her vocation as a mission teacher and was stationed in Thanjavur. On 19 July 1918 she left India to travel home via China and Vladivostok, but the revolution that had broken out in Russia forced her to remain in Harbin. There, in January 1919, she married Mr. Eduard Sallum, an Estonian. Later she lived in Wesenberg in Estonia, but from May 1943 — in Markranstädt near Leipzig, where she led women’s mission work and at times also gave lectures on mission. On 11 November 1963 she died from the effects of a stroke and was buried in Markranstädt.
Ebba Sandegren, born on 10 April 1890 in Madurai, India, the daughter of the missionary C. J. Sandegren, in 1893 travelled with her mother to Germany, but in 1894 with her father to Uppsala, where she attended a higher girls’ school and afterwards completed a four-year seminary course. In England she devoted herself to learning English, after which she worked as a teacher, from 1909 to 1910 in Bavaria, and later in Uppsala also attended a course in the care of the sick. In October 1910 she travelled to India, where she first learned Tamil in Virudupatti, but on 12 September 1911 took up the post of mission teacher and worked in it until 22 May 1913. On 20 June 1913 she married the missionary Ruckdäschel and thereby left active mission service.
Original reference document in German: