Minnie Vautrin

Wilhelmina "Minnie" Vautrin (September 27, 1886 – May 14, 1941) was an American missionary known for the care and protection of as many as ten thousand Chinese refugees during the Nanking Massacre in China.

Wilhelmina Vautrin was born in Secor, Illinois on September 27, 1886 to Pauline (née Lohr) and Edmond Louis Vautrin. Her father, Edmond, a French immigrant from Lorraine, moved to Peoria, Illinois in 1883 to undergo a blacksmithing apprenticeship with his uncle, and later moved to Secor, where he married Pauline. Minnie was the second of the couple's three children; her elder brother died as an infant.

When Minnie was six years old, her mother suddenly died of unrecorded causes. After this, Minnie was sent to several different foster homes. Three years later, the courts permitted her to return home to her father, where she assumed many household chores and excelled in school. Her teacher, commending Vautrin's work at school, later said that "Minnie was a born student...She could excel in most anything she tried, and was a genuinely Christian girl." After primary schooling, Vautrin attended Secor High School. During her high school career, Vautrin worked several part-time jobs to save for her schooling and volunteered at local churches.

Vautrin was accepted to Illinois State Normal University in Normal, Illinois in 1903. Due to her financial situation, Vautrin had to delay her studies several times to work. When she graduated in 1907, she was ranked first in her class of 93 students and spoke at the commencement ceremonies. She taught mathematics at LeRoy High School, Illinois before continuing her studies at the University of Illinois. At the University, Vautrin was president of the Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions. She graduated in 1912 as salutatorian of her class with a A.B. in science. The university pastor recommended Vautrin to the recruiters of the Foreign Christian Missionary Society, who requested that she replace a teacher in China. Iris Chang notes that Vautrin was "Tall and Handsome in her youth, with long dark hair, she was a vivacious and popular woman who attracted numerous suitors," but who decided that instead of getting married she would become a missionary.

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