A month before her 93rd birthday, Elisabeth Hamrin passed away peacefully. Her family testifies that she received good and loving care during her last years when dementia had affected her.
Elisabeth was born and grew up in a small town south of Stockholm, where her father was an entrepreneur and her mother a physiotherapist. She had a brother but did not have a family of her own. She began medical studies in Uppsala and there encountered the Moral Rearmament movement (MRA), later to become Initiatives of Change (IofC). Belief in man's ability to change through obedience to the inner voice, God's guidance, became Elisabeth's driving force. The enthusiasm she felt never left her. In Uppsala, she gathered a group of students around her and wanted to convey what she had found.
In 1955, the Nordic countries were visited by a large international group from MRA. The play The Vanishing Island was performed in Stockholm and created interest and debate in the media and among students. Elisabeth's group arranged for a presentation of the group behind the performance to be given to a packed university auditorium in Uppsala. This led to a demand for information about MRA.
Elisabeth and her friends had been inspired by the play We are tomorrow by Peter Howard. It describes the life of a group of students at a university where they find something new to live for. The idea came to produce and perform it in Swedish. The group decided to interrupt their studies for a year and they performed the play around Sweden. The Minister of Education commented that all secondary schools in Sweden should see the play. The group also had an audience with the king, Gustav VI Adolf. They were on the way to a gathering at Mackinac Island in the USA. The king was not at all impressed. You should stay in Sweden. This message is needed here, he said.
Elisabeth resumed her studies, but now had the conviction to change her line of study to healthcare. She trained to become a Sophia sister and she had ideas and enthusiasm for how healthcare should be developed. She received her doctorate in 1981 and became the first professor of nursing research at Linköping University. She was also awarded an honorary doctorate by Karlstad University.
Elisabeth visited India several times and had repeated contacts with several hospitals there. Elisabeth has had an important role in the interreligious peace work in Sweden through her support for young Muslim leaders. Her involvement developed not only peace projects but also friendships beyond the boundaries of age, religious and ethnic background.
Elisabeth was a churchwarden in Tannefors church in Linköping. She was a dedicated gardener with her own allotment. Friends and acquaintances were always invited to an Advent coffee in her apartment where gifts to IofC were received. Elisabeth served for many years on the board of IofC Sweden.
In great gratitude for Elisabeth Hamrin –
Friend and role model
in her unwavering commitment
to others and beyond the personal
for what she saw as the most important thing in life.
There was a fire burning that nothing could quench
She will live in the memories of many
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