Item 770-08 - Einlage

Gerhard G. Loewen was a teacher, poet and minister from Chortitza, Russia, today part of Ukraine. He took his teacher qualifying exams in 1879 at the age of 16, and taught in several small Mennonite villages in Russia, including Einlage, Neuhorst, Neu-Osterwick, and Rosenthal. He was a major proponent of literacy, at times paying for books out of his own pocket so his students could have better reading material in the classroom than what the local governments supplied.

His first book of poetry, entitled "Feldblumen" (Field Flowers) was published in 1895 according to GAMEO, or 1905 according to The Mennonite Historian. He also published another solo book of poetry, "Eine Ferienreise" (A Train Journey) in 1906, and a collection of plays and poems for use in school Christmas programs called "Fröhliche Weihnachten" (Merry Christmas) in collaboration with Martin Fast and Peter Penner.

Loewen married Maria Derksen in 1884, with whom he had 13 children, of whom eight survived to adulthood. Maria died in 1913, shortly after the family moved to a daughter colony of Chortitza known as Oktiaberskii. In 1925, the widowed Loewen immigrated to Canada in response to dangers posed by revolution and civil war in Russia. They settled near Altona, Manitoba, where Loewen took a position teaching German and religion at Mennonite Educational Institute. At the time of his death in 1946, he had been living with his daughter Helena and her husband for eight years.