Rosa was born the first child of the chaplain of Inari. Her father Edward Wilhelm Borg first served as the chaplain of Inari and later as the vicar of Utsjoki. Born in Pyhäjoki, Edward Wilhelm Borg came from a long line of Ostrobothnian clergymen. Rosa’s mother Hilma was from the famous Malmberg family of clergymen. Hilma’s late father Herman Malmberg had worked as the chaplain of Temmes, and the young Edward Borg worked in Liminka as the vicar’s assistant. Somewhere out on the plains, the young people met each other. When they got married, Hilma was 16½ years old and Edvard 25. Shortly after the wedding, the young couple left for the north. In addition to his priestly activities, Edvard Borg was the official vaccinator of Inari and Utsjoki.

After ten years, the Borg clergy family moved to Raahe and Edvard was appointed vicar of Raahe and Saloinen. The growing family settled in the Saloinen Clergy House.

Rosa began her studies in Raahe at the preparatory school of Pastor Toppelius’ daughters Maria and Lydia. She then moved to the finishing school of the learned Gustava Ekström, which was said to be a modern and demanding school. At Ekström’s school, Rosa apparently learned fluent French, as she left for the Aubonne boarding school in Switzerland at the age of 15 for advanced studies.

Upon returning from Switzerland with an international touch in her education and behaviour, Rosa fell in love with the young Fredrik Oskar Sovelius. The happiness of the young people and the planning of the wedding were overshadowed by the death of Rosa’s mother Hilma Borg at the age of 37 during the birth of her 11th child in April 1877. The groom was introduced to Rosa’s relatives at Hilma’s funeral. Hilma’s sister Carolla, who had been living at the Saloinen Clergy House for years and then became Edward Borg’s second wife, described Oskar as follows: “He seemed like a modest and pleasant young man.” Writing to her sister living in Vaasa, Carolla bemoaned the fact that the grief and longing caused by Hilma’s death overshadowed the young couple’s happiness. Johanna Malmberg, the mother of Carolla and Hilma, who also lived at the Saloinen Clergy House, wrote to her daughter living in Vaasa: “Let us hope that Rosa will be happy; they are very fond of each other. The future father-in-law and the commercial counsellor’s wife treat Rosa with the utmost friendship.” The bride’s trousseau and other things needed for the wedding were prepared in a hurry. In the months leading up to the wedding, Carolla reported to her sister in Vaasa: “Every other day, Oskar comes to the clergy house to greet Rosa. During bad weather, he comes riding. Rosa is so sophisticated thanks to her travels but, instead of being arrogant, she is modest and pleasant. They seem to be enjoying themselves so well together, sitting inside with us and going for walks together.”

Since the clergy house was in mourning for Rosa’s mother Hilma, Rosa and Oskar’s wedding could not be held at the bride’s home. The wedding was celebrated at the Raahe Town Hall at the end of July 1877. A total of 400 people were invited to the wedding, as invitations were also sent to foreign business partners of the commercial counsellor.

A total of five sons were born to the family of Rosa and Oskar. The middle son died of diphtheria when he was ten years old. Rosa lost her husband, Oskar, around the age of 40. Rosa, an active woman, managed the various functions and businesses of the Trade House of Lang with skill and success for about five years, until her first child, Bertil, took over the business when he came of age. Rosa was also active in society, especially after the turn of the century. It says something about Rosa’s position among Raahe people that she was generally referred to as the consul’s wife, as her husband was addressed as the consul.

The consul’s wife was involved in at least the following associations, almost always on the board of directors and very often the chair: The Raahe Women’s Association, the Board of the Children’s Home, the Raahe Chapel Association, the Raahe Animal Welfare Association, the Board of the De Gamlas Hem Retirement Home, the Raahe Local Heritage Society, the Board of the Lybecker Institute of Crafts and Design, the Raahe Church Altarpiece Committee, the Raahe Association of the Finnish Alliance and the Board of the Raahe Museum. The Finnish Alliance was the progenitor of the National Coalition Party, and Rosa was the first woman to be elected to the Raahe Town Council! A birthday story in the local newspaper said that the consul’s wife participated with extraordinary enthusiasm or was the originator of all the businesses engaged in religious and national education, cultural promotion and charity in our locality.

Rosa Sovelius worked for the Raahe Museum, first in the Raahe Museum Association and then, after things had become somewhat established, on the Board of the Raahe Museum, which she chaired from 1909 to 1928. The entry on the record of the museum’s board of directors from March 1928 is quite telling:

“Section 1: At the invitation of Dr K. Levón, the Board met for the first time after the death of Consul’s Wife Rosa Sovelius. Deep was the longing of the Board, and the future seemed like an obligation when the museum’s reorganiser, its skilled and respected chairperson of many years, who everyone had learned to trust, was gone.”  To honour the great work of Rosa Sovelius, the Board of Directors of the Raahe Museum commissioned a portrait of her to be painted by the artist Lindeblom.

Jenny Paulaharju published a beautiful obituary of Rosa Sovelius in Kotiliesi in June 1928. Somehow it feels like the best description of Rosa’s character.

“…It is quiet here and just as quiet in the next drawing room, where the hostess used to receive countless visitors and people paying their respects. In a heartfelt way, she sat her guests there in a comfortable corner of the sofa, sat down next to them in the armchair and began chatting so nicely and intelligently, feeling the mood of the visitor, that even the most modest wanderer immediately lost the timidity they may have felt when standing on the front steps behind the white door with the heavy lock and pulling the old hallway bell to announce their arrival. And there have been great numbers of such comers and goers.”

The Paulaharjus became familiar with the consul’s wife, as they enjoyed the hospitality of Rosa’s beautiful home when collecting material for the book Wanha Raahe. Rosa Sovelius was also one of the interviewees of the book and reported to Samuli Paulaharju about the local reception of the book.