Eleonora Polynetta Emilia was born 24 March 1810.[1][2] Her father was the duke Polycarpus Cronhielm (1774–1810) and her mother Anna Margareta Maria Edenhielm and she had five siblings. Her father was Master of the Chase. The year she was born, both parents died and Pauline was raised by relatives in Gothenburg and in Jönköping. She was given a comprehensive education in literature and languages.[1] While living in Jönköping Westdahl came to know the journalist Wendela Hebbe, with whom she maintained a correspondence for the rest of her life.[2]
From 1825, Pauline resided in Jönköping and married a vicar named Carl Magnus Westdahl in 1835. They had six children. Both Westdahls led the great awakening in the 1840's in Jönköping, and started the sobriety movements with Pauline Westdahl as manager for the Bible study group created by the United Bible Societies.[1]
In 1848, her husband became the vicar of Karlshamn and Asarum.[3] After his death in 1865, Westdahl lived in Stockholm as a vicar's widow with a yearly pension of 200 (SEK).[4] To make a living, she had to rent out rooms, and translated articles for, and wrote, for local newspapers. She released her first novel, Rosor och törnen (Roses and thorns), in 1873 at the age of 63. Earlier, she had published a book on sobriety and the hurtful nature of alcohol.[5] She also wrote a children's fairytale, called Ett treblad för julen.[2]
