Karl David Axel (Akseli) Hirn (October 18, 1845 – May 21, 1906) was a Finnish minister, and after C. G. Tötterman, the third mission director of the

Finnish Missionary Society The Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission (''FELM'', formerly ''The Finnish Missionary Society''; fi, Suomen Lähetysseura ry; sv, Finska Missionssällskapet rf) is a Lutheran missionary society formed on January 19, 1859, in Helsinki, Finland. ...

Background

Hirn was born in

Hauho Hauho is a former municipality of Finland. It was situated in the province of Southern Finland and is today a part of the region of Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme / Egentliga Tavastland). Hauho was amalgamated with the municipality of Hämeenlinna ...

, Finland, and came from a came from a family of clerics. His father was Daniel Kristian Hirn (1807–1884), assistant pastor of Hauho. His mother was Gustava Sofia Ulrika Alopaeus (died 1869). Hirn went to school in the Porvoo Gymnasium. He graduated from the university with a degree in theology in 1870, and he was ordained a minister in 1871. He worked as a prison chaplain in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

from 1884 on.

Tenure as the mission director

Hirn worked as the director of the mission society for a short period, from 1895 to 1898. He was said to have been a "conscientious, deliberative and hard working director". He worked as the mission director beside his work as a prison chaplain. During Hirn's tenure the mission society was given bad press, and also the relations to the

Evangelical movement Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "born again", in which an individual exper ...

began to deteriorate. Members of this movement had earlier been among the most eager to support mission work, and the mission society and the Evangelical movement had held joint Mission and Gospel Feasts. Setbacks in

Ovamboland Ovamboland, also referred to as Owamboland, was a Bantustan in South West Africa (present-day Namibia), intended by the apartheid government to be a self-governing homeland for the Ovambo people. The term originally referred to the parts of ...

had the effect that the

Lutheran Evangelical Association of Finland Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

decided to begin mission work on its own, in Japan, the decision of which was taken in 1898. Also, there were no more joint mission feasts with the Finnish Missionary Society. Donations to mission work increased during Hirn's tenure, however, as well as the circulation of mission magazines and the number of knitting societies for mission work. Hirn was succeeded as the director of the FMS by Jooseppi Mustakallio.Peltola 1958, p. 129–130.

Work after the mission society

After his tenure in the mission society, Hirn worked from 1900 on as the vicar of

Saarijärvi Saarijärvi () is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the Central Finland region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbouring municipalities are K ...

. He died while in this position in 1906.

Private life

Hirn was married to Selma Erika Sofia Sylvin, who was originally from

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. It appears to be the case that they did not have children.

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hirn, Akseli 20th-century Finnish Lutheran clergy 1845 births 1906 deaths Directors of the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission People from Hämeenlinna 19th-century Finnish Lutheran clergy