Aurora Karamzin

Aurora Stjernvall, later known as Aurora Karamzin, was born in Pori on 1 August 1808. In 1836, she married Paul Demidov, a Russian prince who was one of the richest aristocrats in Russia. One child, Paul, was born to them in 1839. The boy was no more than six months old when his father died.

As a widow, Aurora lived in both Helsinki and St. Petersburg.In 1846, she remarried in St. Petersburg to a Russian colonel by the name of Andrei Karamzin. No children were born to this marriage. Andrei Karamzin was killed in the Crimean War in the spring of 1854. Aurora was 46 years old when she became a widow for the second time.

After becoming a widow, Aurora did a great deal of travelling. She spent her winters in Paris, where her son worked as an attaché at the Russian Embassy. In the course of her journeys, Aurora took every opportunity to visit charitable institutions and examine their organization. In France, she became familiar with the work of various organizations which had sprung up from within the Catholic Church. In St. Petersburg, she visited a deaconess institute called the Evangelical Hospital, which had been founded by Dr. Carl von Mayen. She also travelled to Germany, to the city of Kaiserswerth, to see the deaconess institute established by Reverend Fliedner in 1836, and to negotiate with the local leaders in diaconia work.

When Aurora returned to Finland, she again consulted Dr. Mayen, who gave her both support and useful advice. In the Evangelical Hospital of St. Petersburg, she met a Finnish-born deaconess, Amanda Cajander, the widow of a deceased Dr. Cajander, who had for a long time had a desire to return to work in her own country. Aurora asked Amanda to take on the post of manageress in the deaconess institute that was to be founded in Helsinki.

Apart from the Deaconess Institute, Aurora Karamzin was also involved in numerous other matters. Whether charitable associations or non-profit projects, she was always among the first to become involved.

Aurora Karamzin died on 13 May 1902. At the time of her death, there were 67 deaconesses in the Institute. Aurora is buried in Hietaniemi Cemetery in Helsinki. A memorial sculptured by Ville Vallgren was later erected on her grave, with the following text in French: "If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal." (1 Cor. 13:1)