Periodikas avoti kā liecība par pirmo Latvijas sieviešu misionāru darbu

Abstract

Mission work in the 19th century was one of the rare opportunities that gave women the possibility to respond to God’s call. The archive of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia (ELCL) was destroyed in 1944, and its collection have been lost. Many missionary letters are in archives in Germany. However, evidence of the mission work of the first women has been preserved in printed sources published in the territory of Latvia. The article aims to review the printed sources in the territory of Latvia as evidence of the work of the first Latvian women missionaries, especially the work of Hildegard Prozell (1898–1909), Auguste Weetneek (1899–1910) and Anna Irbe (1924–1940), about whom there are significant testimonies both in Latvian and German languages – Rigasches Kirchenblatt, Misions-Flugblatt, Jaunākās Ziņas, Ārmisija and other sources. The National Library of Latvia, the ELCL library, and the Estonian Literary Museum in Tartu are the main repositories for the sources used for this paper. The article analyses the content of these sources and the evidence of whether and how this missionary work left an impression on the society in the homeland. The first printed sources on the territory of Latvia about mission work in the 19th century are examined to provide the historical context. The study concludes that there is an expansive amount of information about Prozell, the first missionary from the territory of Latvia, and Irbe, the first ELCL missionary. They describe their service and trips to mission places, nature, geography, folk customs, etc. Also, these sources testify to the increase in support for mission work in the homeland. Missionaries who could be considered a minority, for example, Latvian women who went to serve through an unpopular mission society in Latvia, received much less or almost no attention from the printed press. This research enables discovering and preserving information about these women’s experiences at mission work, journeys, descriptions of nature and geography, folk customs and other important aspects. It not only contributes to and promotes understanding of the role of women in the mission work of the Latvian Church but also broadens the understanding of how this work affected society at home. Thus, this important cultural aspect is preserved and respected by researching and documenting periodical sources, supplementing and enriching Latvia’s national heritage.