VEMU’s Online Lecture

“Liberation or salvation? The Vormsi/Ormsö Estonian Swedes between Swedish Evangelism and Russian Orthodoxy”

VINCENT TEETSOV

On April 8th at 7:00 PM, VEMU (the Museum of Estonians Abroad), hosted a fascinating online lecture conducted by professor Trond Ove Tøllefsen of Uppsala University.

The time period of focus was from approximately 1861 to 1887, during which the Swedish-speaking Estonians of the island of Vormsi (named Ormsö in Swedish) navigated the everyday sociopolitical minefield of land owners, heritage, missionaries, and their own local identity. If Estonia’s history is characterized by the coming and going of outside powers, then the island of Vormsi is like the “CliffsNotes” of the historical Estonian experience, summarizing how Estonians have strategized their way of life, with a stubbornness to stay alive and persevere.

Mr. Tøllefsen, Dr. James White (research fellow at Tartu University), and their research team have dedicated significant effort into investigating primary sources about Estonian Swedes’ lives. This is a big deal, because it’s a topic with limited resources in both Estonian and English. They’re also studying primary sources on the influence of Russian Orthodoxy in the Baltic region, culminating in the “Baltic Orthodoxy” research project.

The inhabitants of Vormsi called themselves “Aibo”, which meant “island dweller” in their dialect of Swedish. Swedish archaeologists have suggested that the Aibo arrived on Vormsi in 1206, at the time of the Northern Crusades. Though privileged and free at first, their rights dwindled under the increasing control of the von Stackelberg family, taking place at the same time as Russian rule. Legend has it that the island of Vormsi was won by the von Stackelberg baron (a Baltic German nobleman) in a game of dice with a French count. The Aibo led an increasingly poor existence with men fishing or working on the estate of the baron, and women farming. Farmers were obligated to work up to 150 days per year for the baron.

The working relationship with the various barons was brutish and sometimes violent, including one documented instance in 1830, where the Baron sped through a road on Vormsi in a sled; swearing, whipping, and spitting on the farmers who bowed their heads in respect.

Despite this relationship, the Aibo islanders made the most of the situation. They would frequently take back supplies that were taken from them by the baron. And when the landowners became too much to bear, five men from Vormsi travelled to Stockholm in 1861 to request the help of King Charles XV. This created a media sensation in Sweden that caused Charles XV to send a letter to the Czar of Russia. A promising response at first, this heightened awareness led to three years of invasive Russian military presence and prompted the arrival of the Swedish Evangelical Mission in 1873. Things didn’t always go as the Estonian Swedes had planned.

(Full story available via link below)