Alma Hongell

Alma Alexandra Hongell was a Finnish teacher and children's literature author who wrote in Swedish. She used the pseudonym A***.

Life and work

At the age of 13, Hongell already worked as a teacher in her hometown Nykarleby and also ran a lending library there. After marrying sea captain Gustaf Hongell in 1877, she moved to Kokkola, where the family had a house at Isokatu 32. In 1890, Gustaf Hongell became the captain of the Vaasa park ship Melusine. In 1895, Melusine went to pick up a cargo of teakwood from the West Indies, and Alma Hongell was also on this trip. On the way back, beriberi broke out on board, killing Captain Hongell and both of his mates. Alma Hongell had to take control of the ship, and in March 1896 she got it safely to Falmouth, England, where the cargo was unloaded, and from there to the home port of Vaasa. In the spring of 1897, the Marine Insurance Association granted Hongelli a small monthly pension of 40 marks and the association's gold merit badge. Hongell wrote several children's books both under her own name and under the pseudonym A***.