At the age of 13, Hongell already worked as a teacher in her hometown Nykarleby and also ran a lending library there. After marrying sea captain Gustaf Hongell in 1877, she moved to Kokkola, where the family had a house at Isokatu 32. In 1890, Gustaf Hongell became the captain of the Vaasa park ship Melusine. In 1895, Melusine went to pick up a cargo of teakwood from the West Indies, and Alma Hongell was also on this trip. On the way back, beriberi broke out on board, killing Captain Hongell and both of his mates. Alma Hongell had to take control of the ship, and in March 1896 she got it safely to Falmouth, England, where the cargo was unloaded, and from there to the home port of Vaasa. In the spring of 1897, the Marine Insurance Association granted Hongelli a small monthly pension of 40 marks and the association's gold merit badge. Hongell wrote several children's books both under her own name and under the pseudonym A***.[1][failed verification][2]
Bibliography
Under own name:
A simple view of life. Lectures and stories / FSN. Appearance. 1; No. 5. Finland's Swedish Temperance Association, Helsinki 1914
Little Rosa's Birthday and Other Stories for Children. Fram, Vaasa 1918
Flower. Fram, Vaasa 1919
The May Queen. Children's library Eos 3. Fram, Vaasa 1919
My new mother. Children's library Eos 1. Fram, Vaasa 1919
The little songbird. Children's library Eos 8. Fram, Vaasa 1921
Primula veris: story. Children's library Eos 10. Fram, Vaasa 1923
