Haralds Biezais

Haralds Teodors Biezais (born July 10, 1909 in Lestene in Latvia , † May 18, 1995 in Stockholm ) was a Latvian historian of religion .

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Haralds Biezais came from a poor Latvian farming family. He studied at the theological faculty of the University of Riga from 1928 to 1932 . In 1930 he received the right to preach and was ordained an Evangelical Lutheran pastor in Riga in October 1932.

In autumn 1934 he went to Zurich and heard lectures from Emil Brunner and Carl Gustav Jung, among others . During his stay in Zurich he also had contact with Albert Schweitzer , to whom he devoted part of his dissertation. In 1936 he continued his studies at the University of Strasbourg . In 1938 he submitted his dissertation in Riga and received a doctorate in theology the following year. He then gave religious instruction in Gramdze .

In 1940 he completed his habilitation with a paper on Emil Brunner and became a private lecturer at the theological faculty in Riga. The invasion of the Russians and later the Wehrmacht led to greater unrest. Since he was not allowed to emigrate to Germany, he fled to Gotland with his wife and daughter in 1944 . In 1945 he became an assistant at Uppsala University , where he also studied philosophy. In 1955 he received a doctorate in philosophy. In 1958 he became associate professor for the history of religion in Uppsala and in 1961 he was appointed full professor. From 1971 to 1972 he was visiting professor in Turku, Finland, and from 1975 to 1976 at the University of Bonn . In 1980 he retired . In 1990 he received from the University of Helsinki , the honorary doctorate .

German-language books

• The main goddesses of the ancient Latvians . Almquist & Wiksell, 1955. (Dissertation)
• The figure of God in the Latvian folk religion . Almquist & Wiksell, 1961.
• The heavenly family of gods of the ancient Latvians . Almquist & Wiksell, 1972.
• Light god of the old Latvians . Almquist & Wiksell, 1976.
• with Åke V. Ström: Germanic and Baltic religion . Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1975.
• The Baltic iconography . Brill 1985.

literature

• Iveta Leitane: Haralds Biezais (1909–1995). A religious historian between theology and religious studies . In: Horst Junginger (Ed.): The Study of Religion under the Impact of Fascism . Brill, Leiden 2007, ISBN 9789047423065 , pp. 511-542.