Greta Arwidsson

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Greta Arwidsson

Greta Arwidsson (born July 5, 1906 in Uppsala , Sweden , † January 31, 1998 in Stockholm , Sweden) was a Swedish archaeologist . Among other works, she is best known for her research on the Valsgärde graves, which were published in the 1940s to 1970s. She was the first woman in Sweden to become a professor of Scandinavian and Comparative Archeology.

Early life and education

Greta Arwidsson was born on July 5, 1906 in Uppsala as the daughter of the ichthyologist and fisheries researcher Ivar Arwidsson (1873-1936) and the folklorist Anna Arwidsson , née Jacobsson, (1878-1935). She had two brothers. Their ancestors came from Finland . One of her ancestors was Adolf Ivar Arwidsson (1791-1858), a historian and publicist who, because of his political activities , had to leave Finland , which was then Russian , and emigrated to Sweden.

Her father had studied in Uppsala and Stockholm and received his doctorate in 1907. From 1906 to 1921 he was state fisheries assistant, from 1921 co-curator at the Zoological Museum in Uppsala and from 1923 lecturer in zoology at the university. With his writings he made significant contributions in the field of marine biology . He worked for the Nordic Museum . In northern Sweden and Norway , he went on long ski and snowshoe hikes from the age of 27. Around 1909 he started collecting objects of all kinds and finally mainly old fishing gear. In total, he expanded the collections by around 600 items. His professional activity influenced Greta Arwidssons personal and professional interests. Along with archeology, fishing became her favorite pastime.

From 1923 on, her mother also worked for the Nordic Museum . She devoted herself to recording oral folk traditions. Her notes include more than 5,000 folio-size sheets, plus numerous other objects that she collected. She succeeded in gaining people's trust, with a special interest in living conditions and the social conditions of communication. Anna Arwidsson died in 1935. She had been ill for a long time, so Greta Arwidsson said she was already running the household when she was a school child.

Greta Arwidsson was brought to public lectures by her parents at an early age, including a lecture by Oscar Montelius and Gabriel Gustafson about the Oseberg Fund .

She spent her school days in Uppsala. She originally wanted to be a teacher. From 1924 she studied at Uppsala University and acquired a fil.mag in 1930 . in Latin, geography and history. In that year, however, she began to study Nordic archeology with Sune Lindqvist , to work on the Valsgärde excavations and began to investigate and publish the ship graves found there . During this time she became one of Lindqvist's most respected students. Their first publication appeared in 1932, and others followed. In 1935 she got her fil.lic. Friends and colleagues called her Assar.

She received her fil.dr. In 1942, the same year in which she published her first Valsgärde monograph (about Valsgärde 6 ), with the dissertation Vendelstile: Email und Glas im 7.-8. Century .

Career

Her museum career began in 1933 when she worked at the Gustavianum (until 1937). Before the outbreak of the Second World War, in the winter of 1938/39, she embarked on the then usual Grand Tour for archaeologists in training through museums in England, France, the Netherlands and, most recently, Germany. (The Svenskt kvinnobiografiskt lexikon also names Belgium and Great Britain instead of England.)

From 1936 to 1941 Arwidsson worked regularly as an antiquarian at the Statens Historiska Museum , first in the Stone Age and Bronze Age department, then in the Iron Age department. From 1942 to 1946 she was a lecturer in Scandinavian and Comparative Archeology at Uppsala University. In the summers of 1943 and 1944 she worked at the Jämtli Museum .

In 1946 she became the state archivist and head of the archaeological collection on Gotland , an activity to which, unlike her predecessors, she dedicated herself with great enthusiasm. The protection of the cultural heritage was their task. She managed to raise funds for excavations and the restoration of the ruined city wall of Visby through personal contact. In the ten years that she worked on Gotland, she gained notoriety and respect. On the island it was called Forngreta.

In 1956 Arwidsson became Sweden's first woman professor of Scandinavian and Comparative Archeology when she accepted a position at Stockholm University . At first she continued her excavations on Gotland. After she had finished this, she started excavating on the island of Lovön in Mälaren together with Berit Wallenberg , who lived on Lovön.

From 1958 to 1961 she was also the dean of the faculty for humanities and a member of the university council. She taught in this position until 1973 when she became professor emerita . She was involved in the conversion to a university in 1960 and the plans to build the Frascati campus. Thanks to her, the osteologist Nils Gustaf Gejvall was able to keep and with a donation from King Gustaf VI. Adolf founded a research laboratory in 1967.

During her retirement, she published some of her earlier work. In 1977 she published Valsgärde 7 , after having published Valsgärde 8 in 1954, and edited a collection of articles on Birka from 1984 to 1989 , including 36 articles she had written herself.

Personal

Arwidsson died on January 31, 1998. Her grave is in the Uppsala Old Cemetery . She was never married and had no children.

Honors

Fonts

  • Arwidsson, Greta: Vendel styles: enamel and glass in the 7th-8th centuries Century . Inaugural dissertation of the humanistic section of the Philosophical Faculty of Uppsala. Almqvist och Wiksells boktryck, 1942, DNB  57877187X , OCLC 872286610 .
  • Arwidsson, Greta: Some Glass Vessels from the Boar-Grave Cemetery at Valsgärde . In: Acta Archaeologica . Vol. III. Munksgaard, 1932, OCLC 224473962 , ZDB -ID 210251-1 , p. 251-266 .
  • Arwidsson, Greta: A New Scandinavian Form of Helmet from the Vendel-Time . In: Acta Archaeologica . Vol. V. Munksgaard, 1934, OCLC 224473962 , ZDB -ID 210251-1 , p. 243-257 .
  • Arwidsson, Greta: Valsgärde 6 . In: The grave finds of Valsgärde . Vol. I. Almqvist & Wiksells Boktryckeri AB, Uppsala 1942, DNB  578771861 .
  • Arwidsson, Greta: Valsgärde 8 . In: The grave finds of Valsgärde . Vol. II. Almqvist & Wiksells Boktryckeri AB, Uppsala 1954, DNB  363295003 .
  • Arwidsson, Greta: Valsgärde 7 . In: The grave finds of Valsgärde . Vol. III. Uppsala universitets museum för nordiska fornsaker, Uppsala 1977, ISBN 91-506-0113-X .
  • Arwidsson, Greta; Lamm, Jan Peder; Nordström, Hans-Åke: Vendel Period Studies: transactions of the Boat-Grave Symposium in Stockholm, February 2–3, 1981 . In: Studies - The Museum of National Antiquities, Stockholm . Vol. 2. Statens Historiska Museum, Stockholm 1983, ISBN 978-91-7192-547-3 , Valsgärde, p. 71-82 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Greta Arwidsson (1906–1998). In: National Archives of Sweden . Retrieved April 16, 2018 (Swedish).
  2. ↑ a b c Berg, Gösta; Lamm, Jan Peder: Greta Arwidsson 85 år . In: Fornvännen . Vol. 86, 1991, ISSN  0015-7813 , pp. 91 (Swedish, raa.se [PDF; 1.6 MB ; accessed on March 1, 2020]).
  3. ↑ a b c Greta Arwidsson: 1906–1998. In: Statens Historiska Museum . Retrieved April 16, 2018 (Swedish).
  4. ^ Berg, Gösta; Lamm, Jan Peder: Greta Arwidsson 85 år . In: Fornvännen . Vol. 86, 1991, ISSN  0015-7813 , pp. 91–92 (Swedish, raa.se [PDF; 1.6 MB ; accessed on March 1, 2020]).
  5. ↑ a b c d e Berg, Gösta; Lamm, Jan Peder: Greta Arwidsson 85 år . In: Fornvännen . Vol. 86, 1991, ISSN  0015-7813 , pp. 92 (Swedish, raa.se [PDF; 1.6 MB ; accessed on March 1, 2020]).
  6. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Arrhenius, Birgit: Greta Arwidsson, 1906-07-05 - 1998-01-31: Arkeolog, Landsantikvarie, Professor. In: Svenskt kvinnobiografiskt lexikon . Retrieved March 1, 2020 .
  7. ^ Arwidsson, Greta: Vendelstile: Email and glass in the 7th-8th centuries. Century . Inaugural dissertation of the humanistic section of the Philosophical Faculty of Uppsala. Almqvist och Wiksells boktryck, 1942, DNB  57877187X , OCLC 872286610 .
  8. ^ Arwidsson, Greta: Valsgärde 7 . In: The grave finds of Valsgärde . Vol. III. Uppsala universitets museum för nordiska fornsaker, Uppsala 1977, ISBN 91-506-0113-X .
  9. ^ Arwidsson, Greta: Valsgärde 8 . In: The grave finds of Valsgärde . Vol. II. Almqvist & Wiksells Boktryckeri AB, Uppsala 1954, DNB  363295003 .

literature

  • Berg, Gosta; Lamm, Jan Peder: Greta Arwidsson 85 år . In: Fornvännen . Vol. 86, 1991, ISSN  0015-7813 , pp. 91–97 (Swedish, raa.se [PDF; 1.6 MB ; accessed on March 1, 2020]).
  • Grönwall, Linda: Greta Arwidssons Arkeologiska Kvarlåtenskap vid Institutions i Stockholm . In: Fornvännen . Vol. 97, No. 4 , 2002, ISSN  0015-7813 , p. 281–287 (Swedish, raa.se [PDF; 1.6 MB ; accessed on March 3, 2020]).

Web links

Commons : Greta Arwidsson  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Arwidsson, Greta
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Assar; Forngreta (nicknames)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swedish archaeologist
DATE OF BIRTH July 5, 1906
PLACE OF BIRTH Uppsala , Sweden
DATE OF DEATH January 31, 1998
Place of death Stockholm , Sweden