Mathilda Fogman (1835–1921) was a Swedish and Finnish midwife. She had an influential position within

Laestadianism Laestadianism (; ; ; ), also known as Laestadian Lutheranism and Apostolic Lutheranism, is a Pietism, pietistic Lutheranism, Lutheran revival movement started in Sápmi in the middle of the 19th century. Named after Church of Sweden, Swedish Lu ...

Övertorneå Övertorneå (; ) is a urban areas of Sweden, locality and the seat of Övertorneå Municipality in Norrbotten County, Sweden with 1,917 inhabitants in 2010. It is located at the shore of the Torne (Finnish and Swedish river), Torne River, oppos ...

, something quite unique for her gender, as women usually had a low position within the Laestadian movement.Suomen kansallisbiografia (National Biography of Finland)
/ref> Matilda Fogman was tha daughter of a sergeant and worked as a midwife. She was converted to

by Johan Raatamaa when she was 19 in 1854 and was a frequent guest in the home of

Lars Levi Læstadius Lars Levi Laestadius (; 10 January 1800 – 21 February 1861) was a Swedish Sami writer, ecologist, mythologist, and ethnographer as well as a pastor and administrator of the Swedish state Lutheran church in Lapland who founded the Laestadia ...

in Pajala. From the 1870s she managed the contact and correspondance of the international Laestadian between Sweden, Finland and Sweden, translated the letters of Raatamaa to Swedish, and organized for missionaries to be sent to different areas. She served as the senior leader in the

Laestadian congregation with the support of Raatamaa.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fogman, Mathilda 1835 births 1921 deaths Swedish midwives Laestadians Female religious leaders 19th-century Finnish people 19th-century Swedish people Finnish midwives 19th-century Finnish women