Georg Didrik Boldt (24 August 1862 – 21 June 1918) was a Finnish

philosopher of religion Philosophy of religion is "the philosophical examination of the central themes and concepts involved in religious traditions". Philosophical discussions on such topics date from ancient times, and appear in the earliest known texts concerning ph ...

who was known as a socialist and tolstoyan.

Life

Boldt entered the University of Helsinki in 1880. After earning his doctorate in 1902 on the dissertation on the relation between Immanuel Kant and protestantism, Boldt moved to Turku where he worked as a teacher. In the early 1900s, Boldt was interested in socialism. He was a member of the Swedish-speaking socialist group, publishing the 1908 established newspaper ''

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''. Other key members included the businessmen Walter Borg and

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, trade unionist William Lundberg, the newspapermen Axel Åhlström and K. H. Wiik, and the university student

Allan Wallenius Allan Wallenius (13 December 1890 – 15 September 1942) was a Swedish-speaking Finnish leftist figure and journalist from Turku. He was active in leftist circles in Finland, Sweden and the United States before settling in the Soviet Union in 193 ...

. Boldt strongly criticized the state, conservative society and the established religious authorities. According to Boldt, the Christian leaders like Paul and Augustine had distorted the words of Jesus Christ. Boldt was influenced by the renaissance philosophers like Thomas More and Tommaso Campanella. He was also familiar with

Petr Kropotkin Petr is a Czech given name for males and a Czech surname. Petr is the Czech form of ''Peter''. For information on Petr as a first name, see Peter (given name). Given name * Petr Aven (born 1955), Russian billionaire banker, economist and politic ...

and Mikhail Bakunin, although did not support

anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessa ...

, and was particularly interested on the pacifist philosophy of Leo Tolstoy. When the Finnish Civil War broke out in January 1918, Boldt opposed the armed revolution and condemned the violent actions of the local Red Guard. As Germany

invaded An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing con ...

Åland in early March, Boldt and William Lundberg had negotiations with the Germans of their potential actions against the Red controlled Turku. The Reds finally left the town on 12 April. Boldt fled to Helsinki, where he was captured in late May. As a keen pacifist, Boldt was shocked by the atrocities of both sides of the war. After having a nervous breakdown, Boldt was taken into a mental institution, where he died in June 1918.

Family

Boldt was born to the family of the general Johan Didrik Boldt and Anna Christina Frosterus, who was the daughter of the bishop Robert Frosterus. His brothers were the local historian Robert Boldt (1861–1923), the anarchist Jean Boldt (1865–1920) and the author Alexander Boldt (1873–1956). Boldt was married with Hildur Katarina Karlsson in 1906. Their son was the military officer Lauri Boldt (1910–1982), commanding the Finnish troops participating the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus in the 1960s.

Works

*''Protestantismens idé och Immanuel Kant'' (1900) *''Vid orkanens utbrott : en återblick'' (1910) *''Franska revolutionen : den nya tidens prolog'' (1912) *''En teologisk polemik mellan ärkebiskop och överlärare i religion'' (1913) *''Solkorset och korset på Golgata'' (1915) *''Platon (ett föredrag)'' (1915)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boldt, Georg 1862 births 1918 deaths People from Kuopio Swedish-speaking Finns Philosophers of religion 19th-century Finnish journalists Finnish Christian socialists Finnish Christian pacifists Tolstoyans University of Helsinki alumni 20th-century Finnish journalists