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Walter Arthur Alexander Anderson (russian: Вальтер Николаевич Андерсон, translit=Val'ter Nikolaevič Anderson; – 23 August 1962) was a
Baltic German Baltic Germans (german: Deutsch-Balten or , later ) were ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since their coerced resettlement in 1939, Baltic Germans have markedly declined ...
ethnologist Ethnology (from the grc-gre, ἔθνος, meaning 'nation') is an academic field that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology). ...
(
folklorist Folklore studies, less often known as folkloristics, and occasionally tradition studies or folk life studies in the United Kingdom, is the branch of anthropology devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currenc ...
) and
numismatist A numismatist is a specialist in numismatics ("of coins"; from Late Latin ''numismatis'', genitive of ''numisma''). Numismatists include collectors, specialist dealers, and scholars who use coins and other currency in object-based research. Altho ...
.


Life

Anderson was born from a
Baltic German Baltic Germans (german: Deutsch-Balten or , later ) were ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since their coerced resettlement in 1939, Baltic Germans have markedly declined ...
family in
Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the adm ...
(now in Belarus), but in 1894 moved to
Kazan Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: ɑzan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka rivers, covering a ...
(
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eight ...
), where his father,
Nikolai Anderson Nikolai Karl Adolf Anderson (24 September (6 October) 1845 in Kulina, Estonia – 9 (22) March 1905 in Narva, Estonia) was a Baltic German philologist who specialized in comparative linguistics of Finno-Ugric languages. Life Anderson was bo ...
(1845–1905), had been appointed as professor for
Finno-Ugric languages Finno-Ugric ( or ; ''Fenno-Ugric'') or Finno-Ugrian (''Fenno-Ugrian''), is a traditional grouping of all languages in the Uralic language family except the Samoyedic languages. Its formerly commonly accepted status as a subfamily of Uralic is b ...
at the
University of Kazan Kazan (Volga region) Federal University (russian: Казанский (Приволжский) федеральный университет, tt-Cyrl, Казан (Идел буе) федераль университеты) is a public research uni ...
. Anderson's younger brother was the
mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History O ...
and
economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this field there are ...
Oskar Anderson Oskar Johann Viktor Anderson (russian: Оскар Николаевич Андерсон, translit=Oskar Nikolaevič Anderson; ] – 12 February 1960) was a Russian-German mathematician of Baltic German descent. He is best known for his work on mat ...
(1887–1960), and his older brother was the astrophysicist
Wilhelm Anderson Wilhelm Robert Karl Anderson ( – 26 March 1940) was a Russian-Estonian astrophysicist of Baltic German descent who studied the physical structure of the stars. Life Wilhelm Anderson was born in Minsk (now in Belarus) into a Baltic German ...
(1880–1940). The turmoil created by the
Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...
prompted Anderson and his brother Wilhelm to leave Russia and to move to
Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast o ...
in Estonia. While living in
Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and ...
in 1939, Anderson, like the majority of
Baltic Germans Baltic Germans (german: Deutsch-Balten or , later ) were ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since their coerced resettlement in 1939, Baltic Germans have markedly declined ...
living there, was resettled to Germany. In 1962 he died after having been involved in a traffic accident.


Career

In 1904, Anderson enrolled at the
University of Kazan Kazan (Volga region) Federal University (russian: Казанский (Приволжский) федеральный университет, tt-Cyrl, Казан (Идел буе) федераль университеты) is a public research uni ...
, and from 1909 continued his studies in
Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, where he received a Magister degree from the
University of Saint Petersburg A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...
in 1911. During his time in Saint Petersburg he also catalogued the folk tales held in the archives of the Imperial Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences and the
Imperial Russian Geographical Society The Russian Geographical Society (russian: Ру́сское географи́ческое о́бщество «РГО»), or RGO, is a learned society based in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It promotes geography, exploration and nature protection w ...
. For the 1911/1912 winter semester he enrolled at the Friedrich-Wilhelm University in Berlin, returning to the Kazan to continue his studies in the autumn of 1912. In 1916 he submitted his thesis on the ballad of the Emperor and the Abbot ( AT 922) for which he received a Doctorate from the
University of Kazan Kazan (Volga region) Federal University (russian: Казанский (Приволжский) федеральный университет, tt-Cyrl, Казан (Идел буе) федераль университеты) is a public research uni ...
in 1918. He worked at the
University of Tartu The University of Tartu (UT; et, Tartu Ülikool; la, Universitas Tartuensis) is a university in the city of Tartu in Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is the only classical university in the country, and also its biggest ...
in
Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and ...
between 1920 and 1939, where in 1920 he was made the first holder of a chair of folklore. Anderson's most significant students at the time were
Oskar Loorits Oskar Loorits ( – 12 December 1961) was an Estonian folklorist.Felix J. Oinas, ''Loorits, Oskar'', Encyclopedia of the fairy tale Vol 8 (1996), pages 1193-1195. Life Loorits was born in Suure-Kõpu Parish, Viljandi County. He initially studied ...
and and later Isidor Levin. From 1920, he was a member of the
Learned Estonian Society The Learned Estonian Society ( et, Õpetatud Eesti Selts, shortened ÕES; german: Gelehrte Estnische Gesellschaft, shortened GEG) is Estonia's oldest scholarly organisation, and was formed at the University of Tartu in 1838. Its charter was to stu ...
(Gelehrte Estnische Gesellschaft), Estonia's oldest scholarly organization, and from 1928 to 1929 he was the president of the society. In 1930 he, like his father
Nikolai Anderson Nikolai Karl Adolf Anderson (24 September (6 October) 1845 in Kulina, Estonia – 9 (22) March 1905 in Narva, Estonia) was a Baltic German philologist who specialized in comparative linguistics of Finno-Ugric languages. Life Anderson was bo ...
before him, was made an honorary member of the society. He also held honorary membership of the
American Folklore Society The American Folklore Society (AFS) is the US-based professional association for folklorists, with members from the US, Canada, and around the world, which aims to encourage research, aid in disseminating that research, promote the responsibl ...
and the . In 1936 Anderson became a corresponding member of the
Prussian Academy of Sciences The Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences (german: Königlich-Preußische Akademie der Wissenschaften) was an academy established in Berlin, Germany on 11 July 1700, four years after the Prussian Academy of Arts, or "Arts Academy," to which "Berli ...
. In addition to this he was a corresponding member of the
Royal Gustavus Adolphus Academy The Royal Gustavus Adolphus Academy ( sv, Kungliga Gustav Adolfs Akademien) in Uppsala is one of 18 Swedish royal academies and dedicated to the study of Swedish folklore. The name is often expanded to ("...for Swedish Folk Culture"). The Academ ...
, the
Finnish Literature Society The Finnish Literature Society ( fi, Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura ry or fi, SKS) was founded in 1831 to promote literature written in Finnish. Among its first publications was the ''Kalevala'', the Finnish national epic A national epi ...
, the
Finno-Ugrian Society Finno-Ugrian Society (french: Société Finno-Ougrienne, fi, Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura) is a Finnish learned society, dedicated to the study of Uralic and Altaic languages. It was founded in Helsinki in 1883 by the proposal of professor Ot ...
and the
Warsaw Scientific Society Warsaw Scientific Society (Polish: ''Towarzystwo Naukowe Warszawskie''; TNW) is a Polish scientific society based in Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital ...
. From 1940 to 1945, he worked at the
University of Königsberg The University of Königsberg (german: Albertus-Universität Königsberg) was the university of Königsberg in East Prussia. It was founded in 1544 as the world's second Protestant academy (after the University of Marburg) by Duke Albert of Pruss ...
. After the end of the second world war he received a
visiting professor In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic for which the visitor ...
ship at the
University of Kiel Kiel University, officially the Christian-Albrecht University of Kiel, (german: Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, abbreviated CAU, known informally as Christiana Albertina) is a university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded ...
, which he held until his retirement. A notable student he mentored at Kiel was
W. F. H. Nicolaisen Wilhelm Fritz Hermann Nicolaisen (13 June 1927 – 15 February 2016) was a folklorist, linguist, medievalist, scholar of onomastics and literature, educator, and author with specialties in Scottish and American studies. Early life and educa ...
who had a distinguished career in folklore studies in the United States and Scotland. In 1950 Anderson was invited to the US to take part in a meeting of the International Folk Music Council held in
Bloomington, Indiana Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County in the central region of the U.S. state of Indiana. It is the seventh-largest city in Indiana and the fourth-largest outside the Indianapolis metropolitan area. According to the Mon ...
, after which he stayed at
Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, or simply Indiana) is a public research university in Bloomington, Indiana. It is the flagship campus of Indiana University and, with over 40,000 students, its largest campu ...
for a few months as a visiting scholar. He retired in 1953 but remained affiliated with the University of Kiel as
emeritus professor ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...
until his death.


Work

Walter Anderson was one of the driving forces behind the comparative geographic-historical Method of
folkloristics Folklore studies, less often known as folkloristics, and occasionally tradition studies or folk life studies in the United Kingdom, is the branch of anthropology devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currenc ...
. He is best known for his monograph ''Kaiser und Abt'' (Folklore Fellows' Communications 42, Helsinki 1923) on folktales of type AT 922. Anderson also had a keen interest in
numismatics Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals and related objects. Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also includ ...
, and he published several articles in this field. Some of his contributions to the study of Islamic coins are considered to have been groundbreaking. For some time between 1920 and 1939 he also served as conservator for the coin collection of the Learned Estonian Society.


Honours and awards

Anderson was awarded the Estonian
Order of the White Star The Order of the White Star ( et, Valgetähe teenetemärk; french: Ordre de l'Etoile Blanche) was instituted in 1936. The Order of the White Star is bestowed on Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Balti ...
(3rd class) in 1938.


External links

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Walter 1885 births 1962 deaths German folklorists Ethnologists Baltic-German people Kazan Federal University faculty University of Kiel faculty University of Königsberg faculty University of Tartu faculty Recipients of the Order of the White Star, 3rd Class Numismatists from the Russian Empire Members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences Writers from Minsk Kazan Federal University alumni German male non-fiction writers Folklorists from the Russian Empire Estonian emigrants to Germany