Albin Savola (26 July 1867,

Sulkava Sulkava is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Southern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbouring municipalities are Juva, Puumala, Ra ...

– 8 December 1934,

Forssa Forssa is a Cities of Finland, town and municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is located almost in the centre of a triangle defined by the three largest major cities in Finland (Helsinki, Turku and Tampere), in the Tavastia Prop ...

) was a Finnish priest and missionary, who served as one of the first Finnish missionaries in

Ovamboland Ovamboland, also referred to as Owamboland, was a Bantustan and later a non-geographic ethnic-based second-tier authority, the Representative Authority of the Ovambos, in South West Africa (present-day Namibia). The apartheid government stat ...

and published literature in the Oshindonga language.

Life stages

Savola was born in Sulkava Kaipola village into a miller's family. His father was Abraham Popoff and his mother was Leena Kaisa Karppinen. Kansallis Biografia website, ''Savola, Albin (1867-1934)''
/ref> In 1890 Savola started the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission missionary school. From the school he was sent mission field, where he arrived in 1893. Savola worked at the Oniipa missionary station; as a layman, he was assigned the task of developing cotton cultivation in Ovamboland and fabric production. Savola became engaged to Eedla Nikkinen, who travelled to Ovamboland in 1896. The couple were married immediately upon arrival in Namibia. After Eedla’s death in 1898, Savola returned to Finland in 1900 and married her sister Maria Nikkinen. Savola returned with to Ovamboland with Maria, where they had three children. During his second term in Ovamboland, Savola set up the first printing house in Ovamboland, Hautaus Maakierros website, ''Albin Savola''
/ref> starting the publication of the Journal Osondaha on 15 October 1901. He also wrote the first biography of

Martti Rautanen Martti (Martin) Rautanen (10 November 1845 Tikopis (), Ingria – 19 October 1926 Olukonda, South West Africa) was the pioneer of the Finnish Mission in Ovamboland, South West Africa. Childhood and education Rautanen was born in a poor Finnis ...

while staying in Ovamboland. In 1908, Savola transferred to the USA, where he served as pastor of the Finnish Lutheran church in Michigan Covington. From there he returned to Finland in 1912 where he studied theology and became Forssa parish vicar until the end of his life. At that time he identified himself with the

Lapua Movement The Lapua Movement (, ) was a radical Finnish nationalist, fascist, pro- German and anti-communist political movement founded in and named after the town of Lapua. Led by Vihtori Kosola, it turned towards far-right politics after its founding ...

Major works

*Skoglund, GM & Alb. Savola (1903). Omahokololo gom 'Ombibeli: ga ńoolua. Helsinki. *Savola, Alb. (1908). Ošindongan grammar. Helsinki. *Savola, Alb. et al. (1914). Omahokololo gooramata pasindonga. Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission, Helsinki. *Savola, Alb. (1916). Ham's tents, or in ondonga and its people. Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission, Helsinki. *Savola, Alb. (1917). The black child's life for the children. Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission, Helsinki. *Savola, Alb. (1924). Ovamboland and its people. 2nd edition. Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission, Helsinki. *Savola, Alb. (1927). Martti Rautanen. Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission, Helsinki. *Savola, Alb. (1927). Martin Rautanen. Transl. Marta A. Renvall. Helsinki.

References

Sources

* *

External links

* Forsius, Arno
Selma Rainio (1873–1939) – A Finnish Medical Missionary.

* Halmetoja, Henriikka Suvi-Tuuli
Medical Missionary Selma Rainio As A Representative of Western Culture and Medicine in Ovamboland in 1908–1938.
2008.
Vantaa City Museum: Kuku Selma Rainio (1873–1939).

When Selma Founded A Hospital.
''Vantaan Lauri'', 15 January 2009. {{DEFAULTSORT:Savola, Albin 1867 births 1934 deaths People from Sulkava People from Mikkeli Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) Missionaries of the Finnish Missionary Society Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission Lutheran missionaries in Namibia Christian medical missionaries Finnish expatriates in Namibia