Antonija Höffern

Antonija Höffern (; 4 February 1803 – 21 May 1871) was a Slovenian noblewoman and educator who is credited as being the first Slovenian woman to immigrate to the United States, doing so in 1837. After spending two years working as a missionary with the Ojibwe, she moved to Philadelphia, where she established an elite girls' school.

Biography

Antonija Baraga was born on 4 February 1803 in the village of Knežja Vas in the Duchy of Carniola, now modern-day Slovenia. Her father was Janez Nepomuk Baraga, a minor noble and the caretaker of , and her mother was Marija Katarina Jožefa. She spent her early life at Trebnje Castle, which had been owned by her father since 1799. Following the deaths of her parents in 1812, Baraga, her brother Frederic, and her sister Amalija, were adopted by prominent Ljubljana lawyer , who was a family friend, and his wife Ana. Dolinar was a mentor to both Frederic and Antonija, ensuring that both were well-educated. She became fluent in five languages, while her brother began studying law in Vienna at Dolinar's recommendation.

Dolinar introduced her to financier Feliks Höffern-Saalfeld, and the couple were married on 31 May 1824 in the Ljubljana Cathedral. However, her husband died suddenly on 6 February 1830. According to the ', she later became engaged to Matija Čop, a prominent writer, but he died after drowning in the Sava River on 6 July 1835. However, claims of this engagement are disputed: the ' newspaper and the Slovenian Women's Union of America both suggest that she and Čop had broken up prior to his death, while writer Alojz Rebula doubted that they were ever engaged.

Beginning in 1830, her brother Frederic had been a missionary in the United States, working with the Ojibwe in the Great Lakes region. In 1837, while her brother was visiting Slovenia, Höffern decided to join him in America; she is considered to be the first Slovenian woman to immigrate to the United States. Travelling via Paris and New York, the siblings first moved to Mackinac Island in Michigan, and later to La Pointe in Wisconsin, embedding themselves with the Ojibwe. Höffern assisted her brother as a housekeeper, teacher, and lay missionary. During this period, she wrote several letters to her sister Amalija:

Höffern struggled to adapt to living in the wilderness with the Ojibwe, having been "used to salon life". Her health began to fail, and she ultimately left her brother in 1839, settling in the city of Philadelphia. With the assistance of academics I. C. Oehlschlager and Charles Minnigerode, Höffern established an elite girls' school in the city, the Ladies' Institute. The institute taught music, languages, and handicrafts. In 1854, due to financial issues, the school was forced to close, and Höffern moved back to Europe, settling in Rome, where she established another girls' school. In her later life, she returned to Ljubljana, living modestly until her death on 21 May 1871.

Legacy

Höffern was portrayed by in the historical play ABC oder Krieg by Ivo Svetina. The play is about the literary circle her fiancée Čop was a member of in the 1830s.

The National and University Library of Slovenia collection contains a photo of her "Ojibwe deerskin moccasins".

References

Further reading

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1803 births
1871 deaths
19th-century Slovenian people
19th-century Slovenian women
19th-century Carniolan people
Carniolan educators
Carniolan Christian missionaries
Carniolan nobility
Slovene nobility
American Christian missionaries
19th-century American educators
19th-century American women educators
Educators from Philadelphia
Founders of American schools and colleges
Heads of schools in Italy
19th-century Italian educators
Slovenian emigrants to the United States
Slovenian emigrants to Italy
People from Ljubljana
People from Trebnje
19th-century Italian women educators