Anna Heikel

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Anna Heikel
Anna Heikel with student Frans Leijon in the 1890s.
Anna Heikel with student Frans Leijon in the 1890s.
Born(1838-02-02)February 2, 1838
Turku, Finland
DiedApril 3, 1907(1907-04-03) (aged 69)
Jakobstad, Finland
OccupationEducator
Known forEducation of the deaf, contributions to the Baptist church in Finland
MovementBaptist
Parents

Anna Charlotta Heikel (2 February 1838–3 April 1907) was a Finland-Swedish teacher and director of the School for the Deaf in Jakobstad, Finland, from 1878 to 1898, as well as a pioneer of the Baptist movement in Finland.[1]

Upbringing and education[]

Heikel was born in Turku, Finland, in 1838 to Lutheran priest and educator Henrik Heikel. She was one of 11 children, among them gymnastics teacher and educator, Viktor Heikel, and  [sv], a banker and member of the Finnish Parliament.[2][3]

At 22 years old, Anna Heikel did an internship with the "apostle to the Deaf", Carl Henrik Alopaeus, in Turku. Alopaeus was a bishop and headmaster of the school for the deaf in Turku, and also conducted research on teaching the deaf.[4][5] Heikel became the first female teacher for the deaf in Finland.[6]

School for the Deaf[]

After the family moved from Turku to Pedersöre in 1861, Henrik Heikel founded a school for the deaf the same year at his own expense on the rectory property. A separate building was later built in 1863; the school's operations were also taken over by the state that year.[7] The school had over one hundred students in the early 1880s. Due to a lack of space, it was moved to nearby Jakobstad in 1887.[8] The school was eventually closed in 1932.[9]

Educational methods[]

Along with the school for the deaf in Porvoo (Swedish: Borgå), which operated from 1846 to 1991, it was one of two schools for the deaf for the Swedish-speaking minority in Finland.[10] At a time when oralism was common in deaf education, Anna Heikel did not support its use but rather supported the use of sign language.[11] The school in Jakobstad (Finnish: Pietarsaari) took in students from the school in Porvoo who had not learned spoken Swedish. There they were educated in Finland-Swedish sign language and written Swedish.[12]

Career in education[]

According to Dövas Församlingsblad, "Anna and her sister Selma were responsible for teaching in the beginning before a deaf teacher, Lorentz Eklund, was hired. Anna then also served as director of the school."[13] Heikel and Alopaeus also traveled to the area of Lappmarken in the summer of 1866, where they instructed the deaf. She worked voluntarily for many years without receiving pay.[5]

Contribution to the Baptist movement[]

Together with her family, Heikel played a central role in the beginnings of the Baptist movement in Finland. In 1859, a number of members of the growing Baptist movement in Åland faced hearings in front of the Bishop's Chapter at the Turku Cathedral. Among the Lutheran clergy present was Henrik Heikel, who took an interest in the Baptists' beliefs and spoke to them to learn more, although he did not convert. After moving to Pedersöre in 1860, the Heikel family maintained a connection with the Baptists in Åland. After Henrik Heikel's death in 1867, both Anna and her brother Viktor were baptized in Stockholm by the Baptists.[14] After Anna's return, she began to hold meetings and share material on Baptist teachings. The family received a visit from a Baptist pastor who had been at the hearing with Henrik Heikel ten years earlier; together they held meetings and the pastor's preaching led to more conversions.[15][16] Four members of the Heikel family, along with nine others, founded a Swedish-language Baptist church in Jakobstad in 1870.[14]

Death and legacy[]

Heikel died 3 April 1907 in Jakobstad. A plaque dedicated to Heikel was unveiled there in 2014.[9]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Otavan Iso tietosanakirja, osa 3, p. 511, s.v. Heikel, Henrik. Otava 1968. (in Finnish)
  2. ^ "HEIKEL, Viktor". Biografiskt lexikon för Finland (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 2021-07-11. Retrieved 2021-07-23.
  3. ^ "255-256 (Nordisk familjebok / Uggleupplagan. 11. Harrisburg - Hypereides)". runeberg.org (in Swedish). 1909. Archived from the original on 2021-07-12. Retrieved 2021-07-23.
  4. ^ "Carl Henrik Alopaeus". . Archived from the original on 2021-07-23. Retrieved 2021-07-23.
  5. ^ a b "Anna Heikel" (PDF). Kuuromykkäin lehti (in Finnish). 2. March 1897. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-07-23.
  6. ^ Wecksell, Helmi. "Om Aurora Heikel född von Knorring (2 juni 1819-24 febr 1904 i Vichtis)" (PDF) (in Swedish). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-07-23.
  7. ^ Londen, Monica (2004). COMMUNICATIONAL AND EDUCATIONAL CHOICES FOR MINORITIES WITHIN MINORITIES: The case of the Finland-Swedish Deaf. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. ISBN 952-10-0813-X.
  8. ^ Jossfolk, Karl-Gustav (2017). "Carl Oskar Malm, en döv visionär" (PDF). SFV-kalendern 2017 (in Swedish). Svenska folkskolans vänner. 131. eISSN 2243-0261. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-07-23.
  9. ^ a b "Till minne av Dövstumskolan i Pedersöre-Jakobstad". YLE (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 2021-06-28. Retrieved 2021-07-23.
  10. ^ Andersson-Koski, Maria. Mitt eget språk – vår kultur: En kartläggning av situationen för det finlandssvenska teckenspråket och döva finlandssvenska teckenspråkiga i Finland 2014-2015 (PDF) (in Swedish). ISBN 978-952-93-5979-0. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-07-23.
  11. ^ Harjula, Minna. "Heikel, Anna (1838 - 1907)". Suomen kansallisbiografia (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 2021-07-24. Retrieved 2021-07-23.
  12. ^ "Smakbitar från Livs-utbildningen". Livs (in Swedish). 2016-12-14. Archived from the original on 2021-07-23. Retrieved 2021-07-23.
  13. ^ Ahlskog, Olof. "Dövstumskolan i Jakobstad/Pedersöre 150 år". Dövas församlingsblad (in Swedish). Kyrkans central för det svenska arbetet/diakoni och samhällsansvar. 34. ISSN 0359-0445. Archived from the original on 2021-07-23.
  14. ^ a b Wardin, Albert W. (2013). On the Edge: Baptists and Other Free Church Evangelicals in Tsarist Russia, 1855-1917. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 33. ISBN 9781620329627.
  15. ^ "Helsingfors baptistförsamling". Betelkyrkan (in Swedish). 2016-03-07. Archived from the original on 2016-03-07. Retrieved 2021-07-23.
  16. ^ Sundqvist, Alfons (January 1954). "Glimpses of the Baptist Work in Finland" (PDF). . 91. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-08-04.

Further reading[]

  • Backlund-Enges, Susanna: Anna Heikel: Dövstumslärarinna – andlig ledare – samhällspåverkare. 2001. Åbo Akademi.
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