Asta Ekenvall
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Asta Ekenvall (6 April 1913 – 12 December 2001) was a Swedish librarian, one of the founders of the Kvinnohistorisk arkiv (Women's History Archive) of the
University of Gothenburg The University of Gothenburg () is a List of universities in Sweden, university in Sweden's second largest city, Gothenburg. Founded in 1891, the university is the third-oldest of the current List of universities in Sweden#Public universities, S ...
and a pioneer in research and philosophy of women's history.


Early life

Astrid Märta Hammarberg was born on 6 April 1913 in the village of Hädanberg of Anundsjö parish of
Västernorrland County Västernorrland County () is a county ('' län'') in the north of Sweden. It is bordered by the counties of Gävleborg, Jämtland, Västerbotten and the Gulf of Bothnia. The name ''Västernorrland'' means "Western Norrland", as it was in the ...
, Sweden to Anna Matilda (née Malmström) and Axel Hammarberg. Her father worked in forestry and Hammarberg was raised with her two sisters Elsa and Anna Lisa. She earned her high school diploma in 1932 from Läroverk in
Umeå Umeå ( , , , locally ; ; ; ; ) is a city in northeast Sweden. It is the seat of Umeå Municipality and the capital of Västerbotten County. Situated on the Ume River, Umeå is the largest Urban areas in Sweden, locality in Norrland and the t ...
and then went on to study philosophy at
Uppsala University Uppsala University (UU) () is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially fou ...
. She studied under , the creator of the new discipline '' Idé och lärdomshistoria'', the history of intellectual ideas. Among her classmates were , Sten Lindroth, and and her early research focused on the history of learning. In 1939, she married the teacher and later school principal, Jonas Gunnar Verner Ekenvall, and the following year completed her dissertation for her licentiate. Ekenvall decided not to continue with a PhD, instead taking several years to raise her two children, Lena Kristina (1942) and Björn Axel (1945) and conducting research. When the couple moved from
Linköping Linköping ( , ) is a city in southern Sweden, with around 167,000 inhabitants as of 2024. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality and the capital of Östergötland County. Linköping is also the episcopal see of the Diocese of Linköping (Chu ...
to
Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...
, Ekenvall was one of the first two women awarded the
Elin Wägner Elin Matilda Elisabet Wägner (16 May 1882 – 7 January 1949) was a Swedish writer, journalist, feminist, teacher, ecologist and pacifist. She was a member of the Swedish Academy from 1944. Biography Elin Wägner was born in Lund, Sweden as th ...
research grant. Her research focused on the disparity in the treatment of men's and women's intellectual value by Western academia.


Career

In 1955, Ekenvall began to work as a librarian and in 1957 was hired at the Gothenburg City Library. In 1958, she joined with
Rosa Malmström Rosa Astrid Tyra Malmström (1906–1995) was a Swedish feminist, schoolteacher and librarian. She is remembered in particular for her focus on Women's writing (literary category), women's literature while working at University of Gothenburg Libra ...
and
Eva Pineus Eva Hilda Cecilia Pineus née Palme (1905–1985) was a Swedish politician, librarian and women's rights activist. Pineus was an active member of the Liberal Party's women association Folkpartiet liberalernas kvinnoförbund and of the Gothenburg ...
, who was chair of the
Fredrika Bremer Association The Fredrika Bremer Association (, abbreviated FBF) is the oldest women's rights organisation in Sweden. The association stands for an inclusive, intersectional and progressive liberal feminism, and advocates for women's rights and LGBT rights. I ...
in Gothenburg, to set up the ''Kvinnohistoriskt arkiv'' (Women's History Archive). The purpose of the private archive was not only to preserve archival materials and maintain a record of current research into women's history, but also to provide a means to publish materials on women's history and issues. Because Ekenvall wanted to maintain the neutrality of the organization and not support political factions, she wrote to women from all walks of life, like
Inga Thorsson Inga Margarethe Thorsson, née ''Sjöbäck'' (3 July 1915 – 15 January 1994) was a Swedish politician (Swedish Social Democratic Party, Social Democrat). Thorsson held various significant roles throughout her career in both national and interna ...
and Barbro Alving asking for their support in the drive to create an international research center. When the management of the Gothenburg City Library was transferred from the
Gothenburg Municipality Gothenburg Municipality ( or ) is a municipality in Västra Götaland County in western Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Gothenburg. When the first Swedish local government acts were implemented in 1863 the City of Gothenburg, founde ...
to state management as the
Gothenburg University Library The Gothenburg University Library () consists of ten separate libraries in Gothenburg, Sweden, including Learning Resource Centres. With 1.6 million visits per year, the library is one of the most frequented research libraries in Sweden. It ...
in 1961, Ekenvall transferred to the new organization and in 1968 was appointed as the head librarian. She continued her own research into women's history and in 1966, published ''Manligt och kvinnligt: idéhistoriska studier''. Her study evaluated historic ideas of women by philosophers like
Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born  BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...
,
Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...
, and
Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas ( ; ; – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican Order, Dominican friar and Catholic priest, priest, the foremost Scholasticism, Scholastic thinker, as well as one of the most influential philosophers and theologians in the W ...
, positing that their characterizations of women was one of subordinate helper whose purpose in life was to reproduce. Passing through history, these ideas then morphed into social customs treating men and women as opposites. In historic terms, men were subjects and women became objects; men became providers and women became beneficiaries, leading to customs in which men's value as paid laborers restricted women's ability to work outside the home. A "pioneering work", ''Manligt och kvinnligt'' was republished in 1992. In 1972, Ekenvall was awarded an honorary doctorate in philosophy from the
University of Gothenburg The University of Gothenburg () is a List of universities in Sweden, university in Sweden's second largest city, Gothenburg. Founded in 1891, the university is the third-oldest of the current List of universities in Sweden#Public universities, S ...
and that same year, the ''Kvinnohistoriskt arkiv'' was transferred to the care of the university, as the '' Kvinnohistoriska samlingarna'' (KvinnSam, Women's History Collections). Though she did not take over running the collections, Ekenvall continued her work as chief librarian and researcher at the university library. In 1978, she retired and then having lost her husband in 1975, moved to Stockholm. She continued her interdisciplinary approach to the evaluation of the roles women occupied throughout history, combining anthropology, historical analysis and philosophy to produce both research and textbooks. Some of her best known works from this period include ''Groddjuren som frukbarhetssymboler'' (Frogs as Fertility Symbols, 1974), which explored similarities in cultural views of fertility throughout history, and ''Batrachians som symboler för liv, död och kvinna'' (1978). Ekenvall was an important player in the Swedish women's movement of the late 1970s and 1980s. Though she was committed to social involvement, Ekenvall drew a line between her activities in the women's movement and her research activities. In part, this was due to her recognition that to gain respect in the male-dominated academic world, research about women had to rely on a wide range of many different disciplines producing secure scientific results or they would be undervalued and dismissed. In 1982, she participated in the interdisciplinary women's university conference hosted in Umeå with around 200 of the most prominent women researchers of the era. Ekenvall was honored as a ' (Named professor) by the Swedish government in 1996.


Death and legacy

Ekenvall died on 12 December 2001 in Spånga-Kista Parish in
Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...
, Sweden. She was buried at the in Gothenburg. In 2003, when her obituary was included as part of the Eulogies from 2001 to 2003 of University of Gothenburg intelligentsia, Eva-Lena Dahl credited Ekenvall and the women's archive as the foundation of the scholarly reputation of gender research held by the university library. In 2018, during the celebrations for the 60th anniversary of the KvinnSam, the successor organization to the archive begun by Ekenvall, Malmström, and Pinéus, their pivotal role in preserving women's history in Sweden was honored. Ekenvall's papers form part of the holdings of the archive


Selected works

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References


Citations


Bibliography

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External links


Film: Pionjärer inom svensk kvinnoforskning/Pioneers in Swedish Women's Research (Swedish with English subtitles)


Further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ekenvall, Asta 1913 births 2001 deaths People from Örnsköldsvik Municipality Swedish librarians Swedish women librarians Swedish women historians 20th-century Swedish women writers Gender studies academics 20th-century Swedish historians