Elsa Borg (19 July 1826 – 24 February 1909) was a Swedish educator and social worker. She is known for being the founder of the Christian Bible Home for women and its combined mission work and social work among the poor in Stockholm.

Early years and education

Elisabeth "Elsa" Dionysia Borg was born in Rytterne,

Västmanland Västmanland ( or ), is a historical Swedish province, or ''landskap'', in middle Sweden. It borders Södermanland, Närke, Värmland, Dalarna and Uppland. Västmanland means "(The) Land of the Western Men", where the "western men" (''västerm ...

, 19 July 1826. She was the daughter of the vicar Denis Borg (d. 1837) and Hedvig Elisabet Borg (d. 1830). Her mother was the cousin of

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. Borg was educated in a

girls' school Single-sex education, also known as single-gender education and gender-isolated education, is the practice of conducting education with male and female students attending separate classes, perhaps in separate buildings or schools. The practice of ...

in first Sala and then

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, and finally at the school of

Cecilia Fryxell Ulrica Cecilia Fryxell (14 August 1806 – 6 May 1883) was a Swedish educator and principal, regarded as a pioneer within the education of girls in Sweden. The girls' school in Sweden from the mid-19th century onward was influenced by her methods ...

Educator

After having completed her education, she worked as a governess. Between 1859 and 1874, Elsa Borg functioned as the principal of the Christian Girls' School in

Gävle Gävle () is a city in Sweden, the seat of Gävle Municipality and the capital of Gävleborg County. It had 77,586 inhabitants in 2020, which makes it the 13th most populated city in Sweden. It is the oldest city in the historical Norrland (Swede ...

, regarded as the local pioneer secondary education institution for females in that city. She ended her educational career in 1874 because she had become overworked, and retired to the home of her former colleague, the former teacher Alfhild Flodin, who married the businessman H. A. Lidholm and settled on the estae Nådhammar in Sörmland.

Social worker and missionary

Elsa Borg was one of the foremost representatives of the

Great Awakening Great Awakening refers to a number of periods of religious revival in American Christian history. Historians and theologians identify three, or sometimes four, waves of increased religious enthusiasm between the early 18th century and the late ...

in Sweden. On Nådhammar, she became acquainted with a group of Christian philanthropists who considered her to be a suitable person to open a Christian Bible Home for women in the slum of the capital. The project was to employ Bible women to act as missionaries in the slum, pass out bibles and preach in combination with social work. The idea was inspired by the London Bible and Domestic Female Mission, started in London by Ellen Ranyard in 1857. Elsa Borg accepted the offer to organize the project in Sweden, after making a study visit to the English role model in London.Elisabeth (Elsa) Dionysia Borg, www.skbl.se/sv/artikel/ElsaBorg, Svenskt kvinnobiografiskt lexikon (artikel av Pia Lundqvist), hämtad 2020-07-15. In 1875, Elsa Borg moved to Stockholm, where she founded a Bible Home for women with the support of Queen Sophia. After a visit to Great Britain in 1876 and 1878, she came to know

William Boardman William Edwin Boardman (1810–1886) was an American pastor, teacher, and author. His 1858 book, ''The Higher Christian Life'', was a major international success and helped ignite the Higher Life movement. Boardman's work attracted international ...

and

Granville Waldegrave, 3rd Baron Radstock Granville Augustus William Waldegrave, 3rd Baron Radstock (10 April 1833 – 8 December 1913)Harold H. Rowdon"Waldegrave, Granville Augustus William, third Baron Radstock (1833–1913)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford Univ ...

, and having returned to Sweden, she devoted herself to mission work combined with Christian social work. The institution was situated in the Stockholm ill-reputed slum of Vita Bergen ('White Mountains'). The home was meant to educate female Christian social workers. In 1877, it expanded to include an asylum for former female prostitutes, in 1881 an

orphanage An orphanage is a Residential education, residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the Childcare, care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared for by their biological families. The parent ...

and in 1883 a hospital, and in 1885 a home for the education of missionaries: this was followed by branches in other parts of the country. From 1885, she also published a missionary paper, ''Trons hvila''. She died 24 February 1909, in Vita Bergen ('White Mountains'),

Hymns

*''Din Gud är när'' (1920) *''Sjung, Guds folk, på pilgrimsvägen'' *''Sjungen, syskon, under vägen'' (1920)

References

Sources

*''Trons Hvila - Fridhälsning från Hvita Bergen'' 1885-1940 *Borg, Elsa, 1891: ''Återblick öfver Femton års Missionarbete vid Hvita Bergen i Stockholm'' *Wadström, Bernhard, 1899: ''Elsa Borg och hennes många hem'' i B Wadström: Ur Minnet och Dagboken - Anteckningar från åren 1848-1898, del 2 sid 43-47 *Borg, Elsa, 1902: ''Några av Elsa Borgs ungdomsminnen'' i B Wadström: Ur Minnet och Dagboken - Anteckningar från åren 1848-1902, del 3 sid 1-22 *Ekman, E. J., 1900: ''Den inre missionens historia'', del III sid 1655-1663, 1777 f *Ekenstierna, Fanny, 1909: ''En kvinnogärning'' i *Hedengren, Johannes & Beskow, Emma, 1910: ''Elsa Borg - Lefnadsminnen'' *Jansson, E. Alfr., 1950: ''Missionen vid Vita Bergen - Elsa Borgs och Louise Ulffs livsgärning i barmhärtighetens tjänst'' *Lövgren, Oscar, 1964: Borg, Elsa Dionysia i ''Psalm- och Sånglexikon'', sid 98 f *Eriksson, Monica, 1993: ''I Vita Bergen med Elsa Borg'' *Stävare, Nils-Eije, 2009: ''Elsa Borg - "Vita Bergens ängel"'' i Tro & Liv Nr 5/2009, sid4-15 *E Elsa D Borg, urn:sbl:17978, Svenskt biografiskt lexikon (art av S. Westman.), hämtad 2014-11-30.

Early years and education

Educator

Social worker and missionary

Hymns

References

Sources

Further reading