My great grandfather Nils Styrelius passed away on this day, the 16th of October, 82 years ago. By then he was a well-travelled man, who had lived an adventurous life. I have written about his passing before, and a bit about his time as an emigrant to America. He emigrated from Sweden to Chicago in... Continue Reading →
Spending a couple of weeks in Scotland for the first time, I have tried to walk in my great grandmother's shoes. At the turn of the last century, Olga lived in Glasgow for around 5 years. Her greatest desire was to become a missionary in China, and to achieve that, she understood that she would... Continue Reading →
Time has come for the Mystery Man to be properly named and put in context. Thanks to Haifeng, a Chinese blogreader and avid researcher, the mystery man from my grandmother's old glass cabinet has now been identified! If you have followed my blog, you know that I have written about this man and tried to... Continue Reading →
Those of you who follow this blog know that my relatives spent much of their lives in China, a country so different from Sweden that life there must have seemed like something out of a novel, or a parallel universe. To live there, in a foreign culture and a foreign language, they had to adapt... Continue Reading →
When I was little, the stories I loved to hear the most, were the stories my grandmother Edna told me about her childhood in China. She used to tell about her dangerous escape from the Swedish school on the mountain of Kikungshan, when foreigners were persecuted in China, and how she and her best friend... Continue Reading →
A few weeks ago, I visited one of my late father’s cousins - Kurt. He is a wonderful man, full of energy and memories, approaching his 88th year. He was kind enough to show me photographs and letters that he had kept from his parents' time in China. Kurt’s dad was my grandfather’s brother, Martin.... Continue Reading →
The National Library in Stockholm has recently made it possible to search old newspapers online. This is a great service as it is far easier and less time consuming to sit at home doing resarch, than at the library. (Though I truly love sitting in libraries and find the atmosphere to be most inspiring at... Continue Reading →
My great-grandmother Dagny loved children. She gave birth to eight children herself, whom she loved dearly and often in abscense. In addition to being a mother to her own children, she took care of the children in the villages where she worked as a missionary, especially through the schools the stations organised. Dagny also wrote... Continue Reading →
*Before reading this text, please note that it may contain unsettling descriptions. It delves into a practice that inflicted considerable harm upon Chinese women and incorporates images that could evoke distressing reactions.* Upon returning home to Sweden from China to retire, Olga and Dagny brought back cherished mementos from their life as missionaries. These precious... Continue Reading →
Being a missionary in China around the turn of the last century, one had to be quite resourceful. When missionaries settled in a village, they first had to find a house that could serve as a mission station and then they would look for buildings where they could hold services, start schools or opium asylums.... Continue Reading →
When in Paris, I always try to make time to go to the Louvre, this amazing art museum that holds so many important works. Except for the queues, the only downside is that there never seems to be enough time to see it all. Last time I was there, I took a moment to really... Continue Reading →
Today, I'm thinking about my great grandmother Dagny and her bravery. 131 years have passed since Dagny set out from Norway to start her life as a missionary in China. It must have taken a lot of guts and stubborness for a woman to travel across the vast oceans on such a dangerous and uncertain... Continue Reading →
Even though the English language is "taking over the world" today, that was certainly not the case back in the 19th Century, when my relatives set out to China. Yes, they had to start by learning English, in order to later learn Chinese (as many nationalities learning Chinese together had to have a common language... Continue Reading →
111 years ago - by the end of September of the year 1912 - Dagny and Robert were on the move again after having spent two years in Sweden. During this time, Dagny had given birth to a baby girl - Helfrid - at the age of 42, and another eight-year period in China awaited... Continue Reading →
I am spending some warm summer days in a small village in the south-east of France. The village, Grignan, is built on a hill with an impressive castle right at the top. Our holiday home is situated in the village wall, with one of the sitting areas in a round tower overlooking the greenery with... Continue Reading →
I’m finally here! I have returned to Strömsborg’s recreational home, north of Stockholm on a peninsula called Rådmansö. A year has passed since I was here last and now, I am here with my family to stay for a whole week. We have been able to rent one of the houses, Sjöhaga, and I am... Continue Reading →
This weekend, the whole of Sweden celebrates Midsummer. Midsummer is that magical time of year, when the day never ends and we know we are at the peak of light. The maypole, before being raised. Swedes celebrate Midsummer by getting together, eating herring, salmon and salads and those unbelivably tasty new potatoes. We find a... Continue Reading →
When writing my last post I was made aware that much of my great grandparents' life have circled around dealing with the consequences of one of the major historical events of the 19th and 20th Century. During the 19th Century, China fought two big opium wars against the West - and lost both of them.... Continue Reading →
Time has come to read the last document of the three, sent to me by my aunt Carin. The paper is slighly yellow, translucent but quite sturdy compared to the thin air-mail paper on which Robert noted the details about Dagny's surgery. It's not dated, but it must have been written on the 25th of... Continue Reading →
My great grandfather Robert and great grandmother Dagny lived through many difficult situations as missionaries in China. It is fascinating to read Robert's accounts of the conflicts, wars, ambushes and robberies he and his family were in the midst of, and how they solved these situations. Robert and Dagny were close to loosing their lives... Continue Reading →
Thérèse Amnéus 