Thorborg Ragnhild Rappe (4 October 1832 – 18 September 1902), was a Swedish
pedagogue
Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken as ...
and Baroness. Alongside
Emanuella Carlbeck, she is counted as a pioneer in the education of students with
intellectual disability
Intellectual disability (ID), also known as general learning disability in the United Kingdom and formerly mental retardation,Rosa's Law, Pub. L. 111-256124 Stat. 2643(2010). is a generalized neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by signifi ...
in Sweden, and she represented her country at the 1893 Congress of Women in Chicago.
[Nordisk familjebok. (1876-1926)]
Life
Thorborg Rappe was born to a noble courtier Fredrik Rappe and Charlotta Danielsson, and related to
Emmy Rappe
Emmy Carolina Rappe (14 February 1835 – 19 October 1896) was a Swedish nurse and principal for a nursing school. She was the pioneer and founder of the Swedish nursing education. She was the first trained professional nurse and the first princip ...
, the pioneer of nursing education in Sweden. Rappe was born at her maternal grandfather's Marielund estate in
Nättraby parish near
Karlskrona
Karlskrona (, , ) is a locality and the seat of Karlskrona Municipality, Blekinge County, Sweden with a population of 66,675 in 2018. It is also the capital of Blekinge County. Karlskrona is known as Sweden's only baroque city and is host to Swed ...
.
Rappe was raised on the manor of her parents, and married her cousin baron Carl August Rappe (1828–1877) in 1854 at age 21. Until 1868, she lived on the manor of her spouse, but after
the great famine of 1867-1869, her spouse was financially ruined and had to sell his estate and work as a civil servant, dying in 1877. After Rappe was widowed, she moved to
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 ...
.
In 1878, with the help of women's rights activist
Sophie Adlersparre
Carin ''Sophie'' Adlersparre, known under the pen-name Esselde (born Leijonhufvud; 6 July 1823 – 27 June 1895) was one of the pioneers of the 19th-century women's rights movement in Sweden. She was the founder and editor of the first women' ...
, Rappe was appointed director of a new school in Norrtullsgatan for mentally disadvantaged children (then widely known as idiots) in Stockholm organized by several prominent individuals. She acquired a teaching style that emphasized child stimulation at an early age. From 1878 to 1891, she served as the school principal, and from 1891 until her death, she was manager of a home for females with the same disability.
Rappe was the author of the first Swedish book about the education of children born with intellectual disabilities, which became influential and was long used in Sweden. Rappe had skill with several languages, especially English, French and German.
She emphasized that teaching should focus on each individual student.
Teaching should be focused on the individual and it should be based on a given child’s level of development and particular enthusiasm and ability. A lot of emphasis was placed on practising practical skills. The atmosphere at the school was to be welcoming and encouraging. Thorborg Rappe believed – in deference to the foreign institutions she had visited – that an institution should include a school, a workhouse, and an “idiothem” (home for idiots).
Director of the school for 12 years, Rappe resigned from the school and moved on to training new teachers, which she did until her passing. With her resignation, she was replaced as director by Baroness Estrid Rappe.
Chicago
In 1893, she was also the Swedish representative at the Congress of Women held at the
World's Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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in
Chicago
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Thorborg Rappe died in 1902 and was buried at
Nättraby cemetery.
Selected works
*''Några råd och anvisningar vid sinnesslöa barns (idioters) vård. Uppfostran och undervisning'' (1903, in German 1904)
*''Arbetshemmet för qvinliga idioter. Utkast'' (1892)
*''En studieresa. Berättelse'' (1888)
See also
*
Sophia Wilkens
References
* Nordisk familjebok (1876-1926)
* Rappe, släkt, urn:sbl:7545, Svenskt biografiskt lexikon (art av Göran Nilzén), hämtad 2015-03-10.
* Dagny, Nr 3., 1902
* Idun Nr. 25, 1892
Further reading
*
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rappe, Thorborg
1832 births
1902 deaths
19th-century Swedish people
Swedish educators
19th-century Swedish writers
19th-century women writers
19th-century Swedish women writers