Johan Carl Emil (Jean) Boldt (19 April 1865 – 16 May 1920) was a Finnish lawyer and journalist, who was known as a

theosophist Theosophy is a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century. It was founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and draws its teachings predominantly from Blavatsky's writings. Categorized by scholars of religion a ...

and anarchist.

Life

Boldt was born in the Eastern Finnish town of

Kuopio Kuopio (, ) is a Finnish city and municipality located in the region of Northern Savonia. It has a population of , which makes it the most populous municipality in Finland. Along with Joensuu, Kuopio is one of the major urban, economic, and cult ...

. He studied law in the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku (in Swedish ''Åbo'') in 1640 as the ...

graduating in 1886. In the 1890s, Boldt became interested in

socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

tolstoyanism The Tolstoyan movement is a social movement based on the philosophical and religious views of Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910). Tolstoy's views were formed by rigorous study of the ministry of Jesus, particularly the Sermon on the Mo ...

and theosophy. In 1896–1898, he was the editor of the pacifist magazine ''Humanitas''. It was disbanded as the founder

Matti Kurikka Matti Kurikka (January 24, 1863 Maloye Karlino, Tsarskoselsky Uyezd, Saint Petersburg Governorate, historical Ingria – October 4, 1915 Westerly, Rhode Island, United States) was a Finnish journalist, theosophist, and utopian socialist. Kurikk ...

exiled to North America. In 1900, Boldt and

Pekka Ervast Pekka Elias Ervast (26 December 1875, Helsinki — 22 May 1934, Helsinki) was a Finnish writer. Ervast joined 1895 the Swedish Theosophical society and started 1907 the Finnish Theosophical society, ''Suomen Teosofinen Seura''. He was chief sec ...

established the shortly-lived theosophic magazine ''Uusi Aika'' (The New Age). During the first years of the 1900s, Boldt moved from tolstoyanism to socialism, but his views were considered too radical and Boldt was not accepted to the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

. In the 1910s, Boldt became an anarchist. After the 1917

February Revolution The February Revolution ( rus, Февра́льская револю́ция, r=Fevral'skaya revolyutsiya, p=fʲɪvˈralʲskəjə rʲɪvɐˈlʲutsɨjə), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and somet ...

he organized demonstrations by

Helsinki Cathedral Helsinki Cathedral ( fi, Helsingin tuomiokirkko, ; sv, Helsingfors domkyrka, ) is the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, Finnish Evangelical Lutheran cathedral of the Diocese of Helsinki, located in the neighborhood of Kruununhaka in the c ...

. At the same time, the tolstoyan anarchist

Arvid Järnefelt Arvid Järnefelt (16 November 1861, in , Russian Empire – 27 December 1932, in Helsinki, Finland) was a Finnish judge and writer. Arvid's parents were general and governor August Aleksander Järnefelt and Elisabeth Järnefelt (''née'' Clo ...

kept meetings in the cathedral as well as several other Helsinki churches. Since the beginning of June, Boldt and his supporters gathered daily. He also tried to set up an armed guard in response to the Social Democrat

Red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

and right-wing White Guards, but this never succeeded. Finally, in 17 June, a Boldt led a group of anarchists who took over the Helsinki Cathedral. After an 18-hour siege, the militia stormed the church and arrested Boldt, which caused riots at the next Senate Square. According to the newspaper stories, Boldt had 400 supporters. He was taken to the Niuvanniemi mental institution, but his supporters still had demonstrations by the cathedral for several weeks. Boldt died in the

Kulosaari Kulosaari () is an island and an East Helsinki suburb in Helsinki, Finland. It is also the 42nd Subdivisions of Helsinki#Neighbourhoods, neighbourhood of the city. Construction of villas on the island started in the beginning of the 20th century, ...

district of Helsinki in 1920 at the age of 55. His literary work includes a collection of Swedish-language poetry and pamphlets on prostitution, militarism and animal protection.

Family

Boldt was born to the family of the general Johan Didrik Boldt and Anna Christina Frosterus, who was the daughter of the bishop of the

Diocese of Oulu The Diocese of Oulu ( fi, Oulun hiippakunta) is a diocese within the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. The diocese was first founded in the town of Kuopio in 1851, but the episcopal see was moved to Oulu in 1900. Bishops Bishops of Kuopio ...

, Robert Frosterus. His brothers were the local historian Robert Boldt (1861–1923), the author Alexander Boldt (1873–1956) and the philosopher of religion and socialist Georg Boldt (1862–1918).

Works

*''Prostitutionens reglementering och läkaresällskapet'', 1896. *''Ett upprop mot militarismen'', 1901. *''Kors-sånger 1'', 1909. *''Det stora dårhuset'', 1916.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boldt, Jean 1865 births 1920 deaths People from Kuopio Tolstoyans Finnish Christian pacifists Finnish Theosophists Finnish anarchists 19th-century Finnish journalists 19th-century Finnish lawyers Swedish-speaking Finns University of Helsinki alumni 20th-century Finnish journalists