Mathilda Wrede (March 8, 1864,

Vaasa Vaasa (; sv, Vasa, , Sweden ), in the years 1855–1917 as Nikolainkaupunki ( sv, Nikolajstad; literally meaning "city of Nicholas),

– December 25, 1928), was a Finnish evangelist and

baroness Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knigh ...

, known for being a precursor in the rehabilitation of prisoners, and known in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bo ...

as "Friend of the prisoners".

Life

Her father, Carl Gustaf Fabian Wrede, was the provincial

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of the Vaasa

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

. It was during this time she first came in contact with inmates, that were sent to the governors house to make repairs. At the age of 19 she experienced a religious revival and started to work for those less fortunate. She felt that the curing of inmates souls was her calling. She visited prisons, discussed religious issues, arranged occasions to hold speeches and discuss the Bible, distributed religious literature and was in direct correspondence with many of the inmates. This exceeded many of the social rules that was thought to be appropriate for a young woman of her stature. Matilda Wrede worked alone and in a way that differed a lot from the charity work done by other women in a position like hers. In 1886 she founded Toivola, a farm for unemployed, newly released prisoners to work at. Henrik Wrede, her brother had earlier spent three years in Siberia, evangelizing the local people and Finnish criminals deported there. Because of her social position she managed to get support for her work among Europe's nobility.

References

Mathilda Wrede
1864 births 1928 deaths People from Vaasa Finnish Protestant missionaries Female Christian missionaries Swedish-speaking Finns Finnish people of German descent 19th-century Finnish people Protestant missionaries in Finland Finnish philanthropists {{Finland-bio-stub