Georg Didrik Boldt (24 August 1862 – 21 June 1918) was a Finnish

philosopher of religion Philosophy of religion is "the philosophical examination of the central themes and concepts involved in religious traditions". Philosophical discussions on such topics date from ancient times, and appear in the earliest known texts concerning ph ...

who was known as a

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

and

tolstoyan The Tolstoyan movement () is a social movement based on the philosophical and religious views of Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910). Tolstoy's views were formed by rigorous study of the ministry of Jesus, particularly the Sermon on the ...

Life

Boldt entered the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki (, ; UH) is a public university in Helsinki, Finland. The university was founded in Turku in 1640 as the Royal Academy of Åbo under the Swedish Empire, and moved to Helsinki in 1828 under the sponsorship of Alexander ...

in 1880. After earning his doctorate in 1902 on the dissertation on the relation between

Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant (born Emanuel Kant; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German Philosophy, philosopher and one of the central Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works ...

and

protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

, Boldt moved to

Turku Turku ( ; ; , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Aura River (Finland), River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately , while t ...

where he worked as a teacher. In the early 1900s, Boldt was interested in socialism. He was a member of the Swedish-speaking socialist group, publishing the 1908 established newspaper ''

Arbetet ''Arbetet'' () was a Swedish-language social democrat newspaper published in Malmö, Sweden, from 1887 to 2000. History and profile ''Arbetet'' was first published in Malmö on 6 August 1887. Axel Danielsson was the founder and served as the e ...

''. Other key members included the businessmen

Walter Borg Walter Johan Borg, born 21 June 1870 in Jakobstad, Finland; died 6 June 1918 in Petrograd, was a Swedish-speaking Finn, a merchant, idealist and socialist. Biography The same year Walter Borg was born his father (according to the parish book) esca ...

and

Ivar Hörhammer Ivar Gabriel Hörhammer (11 February 1884 – 3 February 1953) was a Finnish art dealer, journalist and politician. He was a member of the Parliament of Finland 1909–1911 for the Social Democratic Party of Finland, Social Democratic Party. Afte ...

, trade unionist

William Lundberg William is a masculine given name of Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. It is ...

, the newspapermen

Axel Åhlström Axel Leonard Åhlström (12 February 1891 – 26 October 1934; assumed name from 1918 to 1922 ''Leonard Johanson'') was a Finnish schoolteacher, journalist and politician, born in Helsinki. He was a member of the Parliament of Finland from 19 ...

and K. H. Wiik, and the university student

Allan Wallenius Allan Wallenius (13 December 1890 – 15 September 1942) was a Swedish-speaking Finnish leftist figure and journalist from Turku. He was active in leftist circles in Finland, Sweden and the United States before settling in the Soviet Union in 193 ...

. Boldt strongly criticized the state, conservative society and the established religious authorities. According to Boldt, the Christian leaders like

Paul Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo ...

and

Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...

had distorted the words of

Jesus Christ Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

. Boldt was influenced by the renaissance philosophers like

Thomas More Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, theologian, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry VII ...

and

Tommaso Campanella Tommaso Campanella (; 5 September 1568 – 21 May 1639), baptized Giovanni Domenico Campanella, was an Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, theologian, astrologer, and poet. Campanella was prosecuted by the Roman Inquisition for he ...

. He was also familiar with Petr Kropotkin and

Mikhail Bakunin Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin. Sometimes anglicized to Michael Bakunin. ( ; – 1 July 1876) was a Russian revolutionary anarchist. He is among the most influential figures of anarchism and a major figure in the revolutionary socialist, s ...

, although did not support

anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

, and was particularly interested on the pacifist philosophy of

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using Reforms of Russian orthography#The post-revolution re ...

. When the

Finnish Civil War The Finnish Civil War was a civil war in Finland in 1918 fought for the leadership and control of the country between Whites (Finland), White Finland and the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic (Red Finland) during the country's transition fr ...

broke out in January 1918, Boldt opposed the armed revolution and condemned the violent actions of the local

Red Guard The Red Guards () were a mass, student-led, paramilitary social movement mobilized by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 until their abolition in 1968, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes According to a ...

. As Germany

invaded An invasion is a military offensive of combatants of one geopolitical entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory controlled by another similar entity, often involving acts of aggression. Generally, invasions have objectives of co ...

Åland Åland ( , ; ) is an Federacy, autonomous and Demilitarized zone, demilitarised region of Finland. Receiving its autonomy by a 1920 decision of the League of Nations, it is the smallest region of Finland by both area () and population (30,54 ...

in early March, Boldt and William Lundberg had negotiations with the Germans of their potential actions against the Red controlled Turku. The Reds finally left the town on 12 April. Boldt fled to

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

, where he was captured in late May. As a keen pacifist, Boldt was shocked by the atrocities of both sides of the war. After having a nervous breakdown, Boldt was taken into a mental institution, where he died in June 1918.

Family

Boldt was born to the family of the general Johan Didrik Boldt and Anna Christina Frosterus, who was the daughter of the bishop Robert Frosterus. His brothers were the local historian Robert Boldt (1861–1923), the anarchist

Jean Boldt Johan Carl Emil (Jean) Boldt (19 April 1865 – 16 May 1920) was a Finnish lawyer and journalist, who was known as a theosophist and anarchist. Life Boldt was born in the Eastern Finnish town of Kuopio. He studied law in the University of Hels ...

(1865–1920) and the author Alexander Boldt (1873–1956). Boldt was married with Hildur Katarina Karlsson in 1906. Their son was the military officer Lauri Boldt (1910–1982), commanding the Finnish troops participating the

United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

in the 1960s.

Works

*''Protestantismens idé och Immanuel Kant'' (1900) *''Vid orkanens utbrott : en återblick'' (1910) *''Franska revolutionen : den nya tidens prolog'' (1912) *''En teologisk polemik mellan ärkebiskop och överlärare i religion'' (1913) *''Solkorset och korset på Golgata'' (1915) *''Platon (ett föredrag)'' (1915)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boldt, Georg 1862 births 1918 deaths People from Kuopio Swedish-speaking Finns Philosophers of religion 19th-century Finnish journalists Finnish Christian socialists Finnish Christian pacifists Tolstoyans University of Helsinki alumni 20th-century Finnish journalists