Ida Maria Åkerblom (September 14, 1898 – February 25, 1981) was the leader of the Finnish Åkerblom Movement, an evangelical movement sometimes called a "cult". She had also served some time in prison.[1] Her movement deemed her a prophet and began in the 1920s.[2] Maria Åkerblom is characterized by Aarni Voipio as a "sleeping preacher", that is, a person who preaches in a state of trance.[3]

Maria Åkerblom with a cub of a lion in the early 1940s

The 2019 Zaida Bergroth film Maria's Paradise is based on Åkerblom's life.[4]

References edit

  1. ^ Kent, Neil: Helsinki: A Cultural and Literary History, p. 104.
  2. ^ Holm, N. G.: ”Recent research into revivalist movements in Finland”, The Scandinavian Journal of History.
  3. ^ Voipio, Aarni: Sleeping Preachers: a Study in Ecstatic Religiosity, pp. 32-38. Helsinki, 1951.
  4. ^ "Maria's Paradise". The Finnish Film Foundation. Retrieved 6 February 2020.