Maria Hartmann

Maria Lobach Hartmann
Born11 December 1798
Turnow, Lower Lusatia
Died30 December 1853(1853-12-30) (aged 55)
Paramaribo, Suriname
NationalityDutch
OccupationMissionary
Years active1826-1853
Notable workFounding of Koffiekamp

Maria (sometimes Marie) Lobach Hartmann (11 December 1798[1] – 30 December 1853[2]) was a German-born Moravian missionary in Suriname.

Maria Lobach (Sorbian: Marija Lobakojc) was born to a Sorbian family in Turnow, Lower Lusatia.[3][4] She married the missionary Johann Gottlieb Hartmann, and travelled with him to Suriname in 1826; the couple lived and worked in Paramaribo and Charlottenburg, Wanhatti.[a] They had five children,[6] including Maria Heyde;[7] another of their children followed in his parents' footsteps, continuing to work in Suriname.[6] One of their sons went to South Africa to work with the slaves there.[1] Johann died in 1844, but Maria continued her service, working with the black population of Berg en Dal and Bambey,[b] and traveling into the bush country to teach the freed blacks. 1851 was the darkest year, everybody, except for Hartmann, died of yellow fever, and Hartmann left Bambey, and moved to the forest.[1]

The school of Koffiekamp in 1955

Among her activities was teaching younger missionaries.[6] She suffered from elephantiasis, but continued to work until dying; upon her death a number of articles were written praising her example.[6] Her accomplishments included the founding of Koffiekamp, Sarakreek[9] in 1851.[10] The church was built in 1853,[9] however she had fallen ill. Somebody of her parish arrived to witness the consecration of the church, and discovered Maria in her hammock. On 22 December 1853, she was transported to Paramaribo, where she died on 30 December.[1]

In 1965,[11] Koffiekamp was flooded after the construction of the Afobaka Dam. The villagers were resettled in Nieuw-Koffiekamp, Marshallkreek and Tapoeripa.[12]

Notes

  1. ^ There are at least two plantations called Charlottenburg, however the Moravian Church operated a centre in Charlottenburg, Wanhatti.[5]
  2. ^ Bambey (or Bambeij in Een levensteeken op een doodenveld) was a Moravian mission post downriver from the waterfall with the village of Gansee upriver.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d de Ridder, Jan Herman (1857). "Een levensteeken op een doodenveld". Digital Library for Dutch Literature (in Dutch). Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  2. ^ John Taylor Hamilton (1901). A History of the Missions of the Moravian Church: During the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. Times Publishing Company. pp. 123–.
  3. ^ Trudla Malinkowa: Serbske pomniki. Ludowe nakładnistwo Domowina, Budyšin 2019, p. 150
  4. ^ A. Roggan: Die sorbische/wendische Missionarin Maria Lobak/Marija Lobakojc aus Turnow, genannt Maria Lobach (1798–1853). In: Lětopis 63 (2016) 2, p. 63–71.
  5. ^ "Encyclopaedie van Nederlandsch West-Indië - Page 182 - Nieuwe Zending" (PDF). Digital Library for Dutch Literature (in Dutch). 1916. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  6. ^ a b c d Gerald H. Anderson (1999). Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. pp. 282–. ISBN 978-0-8028-4680-8.
  7. ^ "Adolf Hartmann Papers". digital.lib.lehigh.edu. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
  8. ^ Mary Killough (2004). "OSO. Tijdschrift voor Surinaamse taalkunde, letterkunde en geschiedenis. Jaargang 23". Digital Library for Dutch Literature (in Dutch). Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  9. ^ a b Franklin Steven Jabini (14 November 2012). Christianity in Suriname: An Overview of its History; Theologians and Sources. Langham Monographs. pp. 111–. ISBN 978-1-907713-43-9.
  10. ^ "Koffiekamp in historisch perspectief". GFC Nieuws (in Dutch). Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  11. ^ "Een geschiedenis van de Surinaamse literatuur. Deel 2". Digital Library for Dutch Literature (in Dutch). 2002. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  12. ^ "Sranan. Cultuur in Suriname". Digital Library for Dutch Literature (in Dutch). Retrieved 16 May 2020.