Paulina Westdahl

Eleonora Polynetta (Pauline) Emilia Westdahl, (24 March 1810 – 7 August 1887) was a Swedish author and pioneer within the Swedish awakening movement and temperance activist.

Biography
Eleonora Polynetta Emilia was born 24 March 1810. Her father was the duke Polycarpus Cronhielm (1774-1810) and her mother Anna Margareta Maria Edenhielm and she had five siblings. The year she was born, both parents died and Pauline was raised by relatives in Gothenburg and in Jönköping. She was given a comprehensive education in literature and languages.

From 1825 Pauline resided in Jönköping and married a vicar named Carl Magnus Westdahl in 1835. They had six children. Both Westdahls led the great awakening in the 1840's in Jönköping, and started the sobriety movements with Pauline Westdahl as manager for the Bible study group created by the United Bible Societies.

In 1848, her husband became the vicar of Karlshamn and Asarum. After his death in 1865, Westdahl lived in Stockholm as a vicar's widow with a yearly pension of 200 (SEK). To make a living, she had to rent out rooms, and translated articles for, and wrote, for local newspapers. She released her first novel, Rosor och törnen (Roses and thorns), in 1873 at the age of 63. Earlier, she had published a book on sobriety and the hurtful nature of alcohol.