Thorborg Rappe (1832-1902)

Thorborg Ragnhild Rappe represents one of the clearest Swedish offshoots of the Coley–Vachell connection in the nineteenth century. A member of the noble house Rappe (introduced 1697, no. 1284), she belongs to the same Vachell–Leijoncrona–Rappe line that carries blood from Françoise ("Frances") Vachell of Coley into the Swedish nobility. Born on 4 October 1832 at her maternal grandfather's estate Marielund in Nättraby parish near Karlskrona, she was the daughter of courtier Fredrik Wilhelm Rappe and Amalia Charlotta Danielsson, and later married her cousin, Baron Carl August Rappe.

Widowed and forced by financial reverses to leave the traditional manor world, Thorborg moved into a new sphere of work. In 1878 she was appointed head of the school run by Föreningen för sinnesslöa barns vård in Stockholm, caring for and educating children with intellectual disabilities. She visited institutions in the Nordic countries, Germany and the United States, and returned with ideas that she adapted to Swedish conditions. Her pedagogy stressed early stimulation, individual attention and the training of practical skills in a warm, encouraging atmosphere, rather than mere custody and discipline.

As head of the school and later of an associated work-home for girls, Thorborg Rappe became a pioneer of Swedish special education. Her posthumously published handbook Några råd och anvisningar vid sinnesslöa barns (idioters) vård, uppfostran och undervisning (1903) was long used as a standard guide for teachers and matrons. To the present Lord of Coley she is not only a historical figure but close kin – a three-times great-grandaunt in the Rappe branch of the Coley–Vachell descent.

Further Reading:

• Owe Rören, "Thorborg Ragnhild Rappe," Svenskt kvinnobiografiskt lexikon (skbl.se).
• Göran Nilzén, "Rappe, släkt," Svenskt biografiskt lexikon, vol. 29.
• H. Brockstedt, Slagsta skola och seminarium och dess föregångare: skolan för sinnesslöa barn i Stockholm 1870–1950.