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Fidelia Fisk

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Fidelia Fisk
Fidelia Fisk (1842)
Born(1816-05-01)1 May 1816
Shelburne, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died9 August 1864(1864-08-09) (aged 48)
Other nameFidelia Fiske
Alma materMount Holyoke Seminary (now Mount Holyoke College)
Occupationsmissionary, teacher, writer, school founder
Students at Fiske Seminary in Urmia, from a 1909 publication.

Fidelia Fisk (also known as Fidelia Fiske; 1 May 1816 – 9 August 1864) was an American Congregationalist missionary and teacher. She founded the Fiske Seminary boarding school in Urmia in West Azerbaijan Province, Qajar Iran.[1]

Early life

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Fidelia Fisk was born 1 May 1816 in Shelburne, Massachusetts. Her uncle Pliny Fisk was also a noted missionary.[2] She graduated from Mount Holyoke Seminary in 1839, and subsequently taught there. She had worked very closely with Mary Lyon, whom she considered as close as family.[3]

In Qajar Iran

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In 1843, she resigned her post at Mount Holyoke Seminary and went to Qajar Iran as a missionary among the Christian Assyrians (who were once called "Nestorians" by Americans during the late 18th century, but is now an outdated term).[4] Fisk had been recruited for the job by missionary Justin Perkins to continue the work of Judith Grant, the wife of missionary Asahel Grant.[3] The Assyrian Church of the East of Urmia and Bishop Mar Yohannan, wanted literacy and education for women and Fisk had a leadership role in this goal.[3] She had begun her work as a day schoolteacher for girls within Urmia Seminary,[3] and was the first principal there.

Fiske Seminary

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She worked towards modeled her new boarding school after Mount Holyoke Seminary.[3] She opened the Fiske Seminary in 1843.[5] Fisk had labored in Iran for fifteen years, much of the time as teacher in a female seminary, she also served as a nurse and extended social support for some of her students.[6] By her last year in Urmia 1858, she had some 40 students.[6] It was upon her leaving the school was named "Fiske Seminary".

Late life and death

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In 1858, she returned to the United States with broken health, with the idea she would eventually return when she was healthy to do so.[2] After her departure from Urmia, Nancy Jane Dean replaced her at the Fiske Seminary.

Fisk was never able to return to Iran. She died on 9 August 1864. At the time of her death, she was engaged in writing Recollections of Mary Lyon (Boston, 1866).

Publications

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  • Perkins, Justin; Fiske, Fidelia (1857). Nestorian Biography: Being Sketches of Pious Nestorians who Have Died at Oroomiah, Persia. American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Massachusetts Sabbath School Society.
  • Fisk, Fidelia (1862). Memorial: Twenty-fifth Anniversary of the Mt. Holyoke Female Seminary.
  • Laurie, Thomas; Fisk, Fidelia (1863). Woman and Her Saviour in Persia.
  • Fiske, Fidelia (1866). Recollections of Mary Lyon.

References

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  1. ^ A. Christian van Gorder, Christianity in Persia and the Status of Non-Muslims in Iran (Lexington Books 2010): 161.
  2. ^ a b "Fiske, Fidelia (1816-1864): First single woman missionary in Persia and founder of the Nestorian Female Seminary". Boston University. Retrieved 26 May 2026.
  3. ^ a b c d e Robert, Dana Lee (1996). American Women in Mission: A Social History of Their Thought and Practice. Mercer University Press. pp. 109–110. ISBN 978-0-86554-549-6.
  4. ^ Estelami, Hooman (2021). The Americans of Urumia: Iran’s First Americans and their Mission to the Assyrian Christians. Bahar Books, LLC. pp. iv. ISBN 978-1939099846.
  5. ^ Khamushi, Musa (2018-10-31). "Fidelia Fiske and the School for Girls at Urmia, Persia (1843–1858)". International Bulletin of Mission Research. 45 (3): 278–285. doi:10.1177/2396939318808206. ISSN 2396-9393.
  6. ^ a b "Fidelia Fiske, American missionary". Britannica. Retrieved 2022-01-31.
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