Pauline Fatme (1857)

Ledderhose, Carl Friedrich. Pauline Fatme: First Fruits of the Gallas to Christ Jesus. Translated from the German by J. L. Krapf, rev. by J. E. Dalton. London: W.H. Dalton, 1857.

Source: Google Books
[Ganamee’s picture has been added from the
3rd German edition, 1867]

Background information

Ganamee Yaa’ii Shaseedaa Odaa lived from approx. 1832–1855. After her death in St. Chrischona, a Protestant pastor published her biography:

  • Galla-Büchlein. Aus dem Leben der Galla-Negerin Pauline Johanne Fathme. Mit Einleitung von Missionar Dr. Krapf über die Galla-Nation. Ein Ruf zur Mission unter den Galla / von Karl Friedrich Ledderhose, evangelischer Pfarrer in Brombach. 2nd, expanded edition. Basel (Switzerland): Verlag von C. F. Spittler, 1856. [View online (Swiss National Library)]

    [(Oromo) Booklet. From the life of the (Oromo) Pauline Johanne Fathme (i.e., Fatima). With an introduction by missionary Dr. Krapf on the (Oromo) nation. A call to mission among the (Oromo) / by Karl Friedrich Ledderhose, Protestant pastor in Brombach (near Lörrach).]

The 3rd German edition (1867) was the most widely distributed. The 4th German edition was published in Hermannsburg in 1927–the year the German Hermannsburg Mission decided to send missionaries to (Western) Ethiopia.

In addition to English, Ganamee’s biography was also translated into

  • French by Jean-Louis Micheli, Pauline Fathmé […], Basel 1857.
  • Dutch by Sijo Kornelis Toden van Velzen, Lets over de Galla’s […], Groningen 1857.

Further reading

Smidt, Wolbert G. C. “The role of the former Oromo slave Pauline Fathme in the foundation of the Protestant Oromo mission,” in Ethiopia and the Missions: Historical and Anthropological Insights, ed. V. Böll et al., p. 77-98. Münster: Lit Verlag, 2005. [View online]