Anna Hedvig Büll (born Anna Hedwig Bühl, – 3 October 1981) was a

Baltic German Baltic Germans (german: Deutsch-Balten or , later ) were ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since their coerced resettlement in 1939, Baltic Germans have markedly declined ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

from

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

, who helped to save the lives of several thousand

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

orphans during the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was ...

. Hedvig Büll was born into a

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

family in 1887 in

Haapsalu Haapsalu () is a seaside resort town located on the west coast of Estonia. It is the administrative centre of Lääne County, and on 1 January 2020 it had a population of 9,375. Description Haapsalu has been well known for centuries for its w ...

, where her father owned a mud cure resort. She was the sixth of eight brothers and sisters. Büll attended a government school in Estonia until she was 15. Then she was sent for continued studies to

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, where for three years she attended a

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

German school. While visiting her family in Haapsalu in 1903, she was inspired by a lecture given by a well-known evangelist Johann Kargel in her father's house and decided to dedicate her life to humanitarian mission work. After receiving her

baccalaureate Baccalaureate may refer to: * ''Baccalauréat'', a French national academic qualification * Bachelor's degree, or baccalaureate, an undergraduate academic degree * English Baccalaureate, a performance measure to assess secondary schools in England ...

in 1903, Büll spent some time at the Mission House Malche in Bad Freienwalde (Oder), where she learned about the fate of Armenians in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. Motivated by her desire to work among the Armenian people, she continued her studies at an evangelical school. Soon she was invited to work at an Armenian mission station in Maraş. However, due to her youth she was first sent to work with women and children in German villages and then for a few months with the poor in Saint Petersburg.Õde Hedwig Büll
. Retrieved 11-25-2010. In 1909, Büll again attempted to go to work with Armenians. However, this time her trip was put on hold by the Adana massacre in

Cilicia Cilicia (); el, Κιλικία, ''Kilikía''; Middle Persian: ''klkyʾy'' (''Klikiyā''); Parthian: ''kylkyʾ'' (''Kilikiyā''); tr, Kilikya). is a geographical region in southern Anatolia in Turkey, extending inland from the northeastern coa ...

. Instead, Büll attended for two years a seminary for missionary teachers. After finishing her studies, Büll was finally able to proceed for Cilicia, where she worked as a teacher at an Armenian orphanage in Maraş between 1911 and 1916. In 1915, Büll witnessed the

in Cilicia and was instrumental in saving the lives of about two thousand Armenian children and women when Maraş was turned into "The City of Orphans".Bagdikian, Ben H. 1997. ''Double Vision: Reflections on My Heritage, Life, and Profession''. p. 88. Beacon Press. () Büll was recalled from Maraş in 1916. In 1921, after a long sojourn in Austria to look after an ailing aunt, Büll returned to

to take care of domestic matters and claim citizenship of the newly independent country.Ene Pajula
"Haapsalu tüdrukust armeenia emaks." ''Õpetajate Leht'', 11. mai 2007copy of the article at archive.is
/ref> Later in 1921, Büll was sent by the newly founded Action Chrétienne en Orient to

Aleppo )), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black". , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , image_map1 = ...

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

, where she established a

refugee camp A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for internally displaced peo ...

for the survivors of the Armenian genocide. She also organized medical help for

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...

victims and the construction of two hospitals. Büll organized the establishment of weaving shops, gardens, an

Armenian language Armenian ( classical: , reformed: , , ) is an Indo-European language and an independent branch of that family of languages. It is the official language of Armenia. Historically spoken in the Armenian Highlands, today Armenian is widely spoken t ...

school, and other enterprises to better the lives of the refugees. In 1951, when most of the refugees under her care repatriated to

Armenian SSR The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic,; russian: Армянская Советская Социалистическая Республика, translit=Armyanskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respublika) also commonly referred to as Soviet A ...

, Hedvig Büll was refused a visa by the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

authorities. She was also denied permission to return to her native Estonia that had in the meanwhile been occupied by the Soviet Union. Having become a refugee herself, Büll relocated to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and continued her charitable work in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, where she lived out the rest of her life without ever relinquishing her Estonian citizenship.
Anna Hedvig Büll died at a

nursing home A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of elderly or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as skilled nursing facility (SNF) or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms have slightly different meanings to in ...

for missionaries on October 3, 1981, near

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

, after having spent more than 40 years of her life for the betterment of lives of Armenian refugees. On 29 April 1989, a memorial tablet was dedicated for her by the Armenian-Estonian Cultural Society on her birth house in Haapsalu, Kooli Street 5. Her memory is also preserved by a monument in

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

and at the Armenian Genocide Museum in

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Y ...

. Among the refugees she helped to save and in Armenia she is sometimes referred to as the Mother of Armenians. The lives of Anna Hedvig Büll and four other female humanists from Europe, who bore witness to the Armenian genocide, are told in the 2015 film '' Map of Salvation''.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bull, Anna Hedvig 1887 births 1981 deaths People from Haapsalu People from the Governorate of Estonia Baltic-German people Estonian Protestant missionaries 20th-century Estonian people Witnesses of the Armenian genocide Protestant missionaries in Turkey Protestant missionaries in the Ottoman Empire 20th-century Estonian women

See also

References

External links