Hedvig Strömfelt (

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

11 October 1723 - Kersö), 22 May 1766), was a Swedish baroness and

psalm The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament. The book is an anthology of H ...

writer. She occupied an important place in the

Moravian Church The Moravian Church, or the Moravian Brethren ( or ), formally the (Latin: "Unity of the Brethren"), is one of the oldest Protestant denominations in Christianity, dating back to the Bohemian Reformation of the 15th century and the original ...

Stockholm congregation in 18th-century Sweden. She composed the psalms number 46, 59 and 63 in Sions Sånger (Songs of Sion) of 1743, and likely 72, 78, 85, 86, 105 and 108 in Sions Nya Sånger (New Songs of Sion) of 1748.

Life

Hedvig Strömfelt was the daughter of baron Otto Reinhold Strömfelt, president of

Svea Hovrätt Svea Court of Appeal (), located in Stockholm, is one of six appellate courts in the Swedish legal system, as well as the oldest Swedish court currently in use (the Supreme Court being constituted only in 1789, over 150 years later). It is loca ...

, and Anna Magdalena Taube af Odenkat. Her parents, previously followers of the

pietism Pietism (), also known as Pietistic Lutheranism, is a movement within Lutheranism that combines its emphasis on biblical doctrine with an emphasis on individual piety and living a holy Christianity, Christian life. Although the movement is ali ...

, became followers of the Moravian Church after a visit to

Livonia Livonia, known in earlier records as Livland, is a historical region on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It is named after the Livonians, who lived on the shores of present-day Latvia. By the end of the 13th century, the name was extende ...

in 1738. Upon their return, the home of the Strömfelt family became a haven for the Moravian Church in Stockholm and Sweden, were the Moravian faith was introduced by mission of Thore Odhelius, who was referred to as the Moravian court chaplain of her father. Many Moravians were given employment and refuge in the Strömfelt home. Hedvig Strömfelt also became a leading member of the Moravian congregation and with her sisters Ottiliana, Christina and Ulrika referred to as the Strömfelt Sisters, and they acted as missionaries and preachers in especially the upper class circles of the capital. In 1759, when the Moravian congregation of Stockholm was inspected by the Moravian Johan Huffel from Courland, it was severely divided, and the Strömfelt Sisters, along with Olof Gren, Eric Alibin and the Schmidt couple were the leaders of the so-called Six Party. When the Moravian congregation was united by the preacher Ike, the Strömfelt Sisters refused to join. The writings of Hedvig Strömfelt are inspired by ta strong erotic mysticism around blood and wounds which were popular within the Moravian Church at the time. Alongside her sister Ulrika, she also wrote a description of the history of the first Moravian church in Sweden.

References

* https://web.archive.org/web/20140601072747/http://www.nordicwomensliterature.net/writer/str%C3%B6mfelt-hedvig * Ann Öhrberg (2001). Vittra fruntimmer. Författarroll och retorik hos frihetstidens kvinnliga författare. Stockholm: Gidlunds Förlag. * Nordisk kvinnoliteraturhistoria. Första delen (1993) * Asa Johansson & Petra Ragnerstam: Limitation and Liberation. Women writers and the Position of Genre (2005) * Herman Lundström: "Kyrkohistorisk årsskrift" Fjärde årgången 1903. Uppsala (1920) * Karin Dovring: Striden kring Sions Sånger och närstående sångsamlingar, 1951 * http://www.adelsvapen.com/genealogi/Str%C3%B6mfelt_nr_173

Life

References

Further reading