Matilda Smyrell Calder Thurston (1875–1958) was an American

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

educator and missionary. She is known for serving as the first president of the

Ginling College Ginling College (), also known by its pinyin romanization as Jinling College or Jinling Women's College, is a women's college of Nanjing Normal University in Nanjing, China. It offers both bachelor's and master's degrees. It offers six underg ...

in Nanjing, China.

Biography

Thurston ''née'' Calder was born on May 16, 1875, in Hartford, Connecticut. She attended

Mount Holyoke College Mount Holyoke College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in South Hadley, Massachusetts, United States. It is the oldest member of the h ...

. After teaching high school for several years after graduation, she married John Lawrence Thurston and the couple traveled to China. They worked at the Yale Board of Foreign Missions, returning to the United States after John contracted

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

. He died in 1903 or 1904. After her husband's death Thurston went to work for the Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions. In 1906 she returned to China where she work for the Yale Mission at Changsha. In 1913 Thurston was sent to

Nanjing Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yang ...

by the

Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions Presbyterian Mission Agency is the ministry and mission agency of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Founded as the Western Foreign Missionary Society by the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America in 1837, it was involved in sending w ...

. The she helped found Ginling College, a four-year college for women. She also served as the first president of the college. Thurston was president until 1928, when she was succesdeed by Wu Yi-fang. Thurston lived in the United States from 1936 through 1939, returning to China to work on World War II relief efforts. She was interned in the early 1940s by the occupying Japanese. Upon her release she lived in Auburndale, Massachusetts. She died on April 18, 1958, in Auburndale.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thurston, Matilda Smyrell Calder 1875 births 1958 deaths Female Christian missionaries