The Diaries of Martti Rautanen

Martti Rautanen was one of the first Finnish missionaries to arrive in Owambo in 1870. He worked in the region until his death in 1926. During these over five decades, he kept a diary which portrays uniquely the daily life at mission stations as well as local societies, cultural practices, languages, flora, fauna and climate.

The Turku University Foundation and the Niilo Helander Foundation have funded our efforts to make the diaries more accessible by transcribing the original German texts and by translating them to Finnish. This work has been executed by MA Eero Perunka. The transcription and translation project is still going on. We are also collaborating with the National Archives of Finland to digitalize the diaries and letters of Martti Rautanen.

Banner image: Martti Rautanen, photograph by Hannu Haahti (1911). Finnish Heritage Agency, Picture Collections, photographs of the Finnish Missionary Society.