Aurora Karamzin – the most loyal friend of the Foundation

Just as a mother’s memory is dear to children, so may the memory of the one who founded and brought to life our Deaconess Foundation remain precious among us; tenderly we, the sisters of the foundation, shall cherish it!

This was stated by Lina Snellman, the directress of the foundation, in her 1909 book “Colonel’s wife Karamzin’s Memory” (printed in Swedish and in Finnish). With this book, she wanted to convey Aurora’s thoughts and actions to future generations of deaconesses, those who did not have the opportunity to know the founder. Deaconess Foundation in Helsinki was founded on the initiative of colonel’s wife Aurora Karamzin in Helsinki plagued by epidemics. The foundation began its operations in 1867. She did not found the institution alone, but her partners were four men promoting missionary work. Three of them were closely involved in the administration of the Finnish Mission Society: official of the Senate G. M. Waenerberg was the chairman of the board, pathology professor Otto E. A. Hjelt a member of the board, and K. A. Sirelius the director of the society. The fourth man was pastor E. V. Pettersson, whose heart was close to home missions, to which the Deaconess Foundation was considered to belong. Aurora had become acquainted on her travels with European “charity institutions” as well as diaconal institutions founded since 1836. In these, young women received nursing education to help those in distress – and Aurora wanted a similar actor to be established in Finland as well. She had made a proposal for a deaconess foundation for the first time seven years earlier, but only at a time of real need did Aurora gain support for her idea.

First directress was Amanda Cajander. She was originally from town of Mikkeli, had decided to dedicate the rest of her life to helping those in distress. That happened after she had lost her family, two children, and spouse. She applied to the deaconess institution operating in Saint Petersburg, the Saint Petersburg Evangelical Hospital. There, Sister Amanda was ordained as a deaconess in 1866. In early summer of 1867, she arrived in Helsinki at Aurora’s invitation with the task of initiating the operations of the deaconess institution and serving as its directress. As Aurora searched for someone to lead the new institution, the focus had turned to the Saint Petersburg institution, as its operations were very familiar to Aurora. It and the Ersta deaconess institution in Stockholm were both role models for our own institution.

According to the rules of the Helsinki Deaconess Foundation, Aurora Karamzin was financially responsible for the operation of the institution. Funds for the operation were also collected from patient fees and support from wealthy friends, including donations and legacies. Aurora was also an ex officio member of the board.

Own House as a Goal

When the Diaconal Foundation was founded, Aurora Karamzin and her son Paul Demidov (1839-1885) had announced that part of the funds they donated were intended as capital for building their own house. During the first years, the institute had to operate in premises that were poorly suited for the purpose. In the 1872 annual report, chief physician and chairman of the board Professor Otto E. A. Hjelt noted that the colonel’s wife had often returned to the house issue and inquired about its practical solution.

The strong impetus for designing our own house was given by the inauguration ceremony of the new building of the St. Petersburg Deaconess Institute in 1873. It had been designed for the needs of the institute. Aurora Karamzin promised to finance a house for the Helsinki Deaconess Foundation, provided the costs were reasonable and a good plot of land could be obtained for it. When the Deaconess Foundation celebrated Aurora’s Day on March 10, 1873, the idea was dared to be expressed that at the next summer’s annual celebration, the foundation stone of the new Deaconess Foundation would be laid. Acting as temporary directress, Charlotta Molin emphasized that Finnish daughters needed their own house; boys had already received one when the Old Student House was completed. Now an earnest money contribution was expected from the boys so that the project would not rest only on the generosity of one person – Aurora Karamzin.

Moving to Katajanokka

The City of Helsinki handed over three plots to the institution already in May of the same year at the corner of Puistokatu and Neitsytpolku. The area was still barren and uninhabited at that time. Two sets of drawings were made for the building. One was created by Carl von Meyer, director of the St. Petersburg Deaconess Institute, at Aurora’s request, and the other by the young architect Theodor Höijer. With the new building, the institution would have received a new name, Aurora Foundation (Aurore-Stift). This was as far as it went, but now the institution’s leaders began to retreat: was the project really necessary? In addition, it was feared it would be expensive. And a visit to the plot showed the location was far away. “Visiting there was like going to the countryside,” Professor Hjelt reportedly stated. Eventually, for just over 20 years, the Helsinki Deaconess Institute operated in a three-story stone building in Katajanokka. It was acquired by Aurora Karamzin, with a loan. The Deaconess Institute operated at Satamakatu 9 from 1875 to 1897.

Around the same time, Aurora was settling back in her homeland after years abroad. She renovated the Hakasalmi villa, built by her stepfather, as her residence. There she held so-called reception hours; the poor came to seek help either in person or through letters. Aurora shared her concerns about those seeking help with a few deaconesses; not all were truly in need, and Aurora had been deceived many times. The Blomqvist sisters working in the service of the Helsinki City Mission, Sister Cecilia and Sister Elisabeth, helped Aurora by obtaining information about the unknown applicants who came to her. Aurora also participated in the founding costs of the Sörnäinen infirmary established in 1897 on the initiative of deaconess Pauliina Huttunen. Additionally, she funded a soup kitchen for famine-stricken Suomussalmi in the early 1890s.

New premises were built

Premises in Katajanokka soon became too cramped. Especially the hospital needed more suitable space. The care provided in the hospital was good and the staff were among the best in their field, so it was no surprise that the number of patients grew. In 1895, a new construction project was launched. To advance it, a construction committee was chosen, of which Aurora was a member. As a result of the project, a new Deaconess Foundation was completed in 1897 on the shore of Töölönlahti, at Eläintarha (nowadays Kallio). It was built on a plot donated by the city. There was already a wooden hunting lodge of the Finskt Jaktförening (hunting club) located there. Aurora Karamzin redeemed it from the club together with Miss Elina Igman. They later donated the lodge to the Deaconess Foundation. The lodge was demolished in 1964 and an apartment building was built in its place. It was named D-building. In 2008, the building’s name was changed to Cecilia, after Sister Cecilia Blomqvist.

When the Deaconess Foundation moved close to Töölönlahti, Aurora Karamzin’s journey to the Deaconess Foundation from the Hakasalmi villa located on the other side of the bay shortened. She was often a seen guest at the institute, or the senior sisters received a dinner invitation to her place. On one of her trips abroad, Aurora wrote a letter expressing her wish to move to live at the Deaconess Foundation. However, the planned move did not eventually happen.

Aurora donated the property in Katajanokka to the Deaconess Foundation in 1896. The institute had had to take on a significant construction debt for a new building. The repayment of the debt was eased by the sale of the donated property three years later.

Participating in the institute’s events

Aurora’s hearing deteriorated during the 1890s. Among other things, she followed the Scandinavian deaconess conference in June 1895 with great interest, although poor hearing prevented her from participating in the discussions. She invited the conference participants to her villa: “That morning moment we spent at her place amid the diligent conference work was delightful for everyone,” recalled the directress Lina Snellman. Aurora also took part in Christmas celebrations at the Deaconess Institute in the late 1890s. She is said to have admired the hospital’s large Christmas tree and expressed her joy at being able to be with the patients lying in armchairs. At the institute, among the patients, she felt she received part of God’s word as counsel and comfort.

Words of Thanks to the 90-Year-Old

Aurora Karamzin celebrated her 90th birthday on August 3, 1898. On the eve of the special day, she spent a quiet moment with the sisters in the Deaconess Institute’s church, at her own request. She awaited the next day somewhat anxiously – congratulations, honors, thanks, and praise were coming, friends from near and far. It no longer felt very pleasant for someone who had left behind a lively social life.

On the celebration day, the stream of congratulations from outsiders was started by the board of directors of the Helsinki Deaconess Foundation. On behalf of the board, Aurora was congratulated by the director of the institute, C. G. Olsoni, who thanked her for her care and all the good she has done for the institute. Olsoni presented Aurora with a watercolor commissioned from the artist Hanna Frosterus-Segerstråle as a gift from the institute. The work, painted based on photographs, depicts the activities and premises of the institute. The painting was returned to the institute after Aurora’s death.

After the Deaconess Institute, it was the turn of the Helsinki City Council and representatives of the city’s schools, followed by dozens of others. The citizens had collected a gift of 13,600 markka (about 6,700 euros) for the day’s hero, which Aurora donated to the Deaconess Institute as a free year fund.

Declining health confines to home at Hakasalmi villa

In her final years, she often sent her carriage to the institution to have the institution’s pastor Artur Palmroth come to her. He had become the head of the institution and a priest in 1899. In the winter of 1901–1902, Aurora experienced recurring bouts of illness and was no longer able to visit the Deaconess Institute. She died on May 13, 1902, at the age of 94. At the Deaconess Institute, the day was a day of mourning: all the staff were called together in the afternoon for a devotional service in honor of the deceased. Later, a group of sisters went to Hakasalmi Villa. “On her bed lay our dear departed with beautiful facial features illuminated by peace, a gentle smile on her face. She looked younger and more radiant than any of us. The Bible and a picture of Christ were on the nearby nightstand,” wrote Sister Lina.

Bouquets for a More Faithful Friend

Aurora was buried four days later at the Hietaniemi cemetery. On the day of the funeral, her coffin was transported from the Hakasalmi villa in a carriage drawn by four horses draped in black to the Old Church. Following the carriage, the first to accompany it were relatives, followed by the deaconesses of the Deaconess Institute. After the blessing, the coffin set off towards Hietaniemi cemetery, watched by a large crowd of mourners numbering even in the thousands. “When the coffin sank into the earth, the grave was covered with a lid on which an immense number of wreaths were laid. The wreath from the board of directors of the Deaconess Institute bore a simple inscription: ‘Från bestyrelsen från Diakonissanstalten i Helsingfors. Joh. 11:25’ (Jesus said to her: I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me shall live, even though they die).” On behalf of the sisterhood, that is, the deaconesses, two sisters laid a wreath made of white lilies for their dearest and most faithful friend on earth. Lastly, small schoolgirls who had earlier stood as an honor guard along the street laid their bouquets.

On the evening of the funeral day, a Swedish-language memorial service was held at the institute. In her testamentary disposition, Aurora remembered the Helsinki Deaconess Institute with a legacy fund.

The author Jaana af Hällström works in the communications department of the Deaconess Institute as a specialist and curator specializing in the history of the institute.