Jooseppi Mustakallio

Jooseppi Mustakallio (June 18, 1857 – April 20, 1923), originally Josef Schwartzberg, was a Finnish minister and the fourth mission director of the Finnish Missionary Society, after Akseli Hirn. He was also a poet and a lyricist. His best known poem is called "Evening Song".

Background

Mustakallio's parents were chaplain Henrik Schwartzberg ja Laura Katariina Stenbäck. He was born in Säräisniemi. Mustakallio graduated from the Kuopio Lyceum in 1878 and obtained a bachelor's degree in philosophy in 1883.

Mustakallio first worked as teacher in Pori, teaching religion and the Finnish language. In 1889 he was ordained a minister. After that he taught religion in Savonlinna and Kuopio.

Mustakallio became an employee of the FMS in 1897, first as a teacher of the FMS Mission School. During the summer of 1898 he travelled to Germany, in order to acquaint himself with the work of the various German missionary societies.

Tenure as the mission director 1898–1913

Mustakallio was elected mission director in 1898.

Inspection trip to Ovamboland in 1900

The FMS had long been planning an inspection of the mission field in Ovamboland in South West Africa, which was at the time the only mission field of this organization. The Finns had worked there for 30 years, without a single visit from Finland.

During the last few years, the Finnish missionaries had been criticized heavily in Finland, for an apparent lack of results. For this reason the missionaries had been hoping for a visit from by the director of the FMS. At that time there were four missionaries in the field with their families, along with two unmarried female missionaries.