Clas Jonas Theodor Odhner (17 June 1836 in Alingsås, Sweden – 11 June 1904 in

Stockholm, Sweden 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 ...

) was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

historian, and director of the

Swedish National Archives The National Archives of Sweden (, RA) is the official archive of the Swedish government and is responsible for the management of records from Sweden's public authorities. Although the archives functions primarily as the government archive, it al ...

(''Riksarkivet''). Odhner was the son of a clergyman, and his mother was a sister of

Nils Ericson ''Friherre'' Nils Ericson (born Nils Ericsson; 31 January 1802 – 8 September 1870) was a Swedish mechanical engineer who built canals and railways in Sweden. His younger brother John Ericsson, who emigrated first to England and then the U ...

and

John Ericsson John Ericsson (born Johan Ericsson; July 31, 1803 – March 8, 1889) was a Swedish-American engineer and inventor. He was active in England and the United States. Ericsson collaborated on the design of the railroad steam locomotive Novelty (lo ...

. Odhner went to school in

Skara Skara is a locality and the seat of Skara Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 18,580 inhabitants in 2013. Despite its small size, it is one of the oldest cities in Sweden, and has a long educational and ecclesiastical history. O ...

and matriculated 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 ...

in 1851, completing the degree of ''

filosofie magister A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practi ...

'' and becoming a

docent The term "docent" is derived from the Latin word , which is the third-person plural present active indicative of ('to teach, to lecture'). Becoming a docent is often referred to as habilitation or doctor of science and is an academic qualifi ...

of History in 1860. He taught at

Lund University Lund University () is a Public university, public research university in Sweden and one of Northern Europe's oldest universities. The university is located in the city of Lund in the Swedish province of Scania. The university was officially foun ...

from 1865, as professor of history from 1870 until 1887, when he was appointed ''riksarkivarie'', director of the National Archives, a position in which he remained until 1901. Odhner was a member of the Second Chamber of the

Riksdag The Riksdag ( , ; also or , ) is the parliament and the parliamentary sovereignty, supreme decision-making body of the Kingdom of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral parliament with 349 members (), elected proportional rep ...

1894–1897. He was elected Member of the

Swedish Academy The Swedish Academy (), founded in 1786 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden. Its 18 members, who are elected for life, comprise the highest Swedish language authority. Outside Scandinavia, it is best known as the body t ...

in 1885, and was member of several other learned societies. Odhner was a productive writer, and the schoolbooks he authored were influential. He was the main mover in the introduction of the new organisation of the archives for government agencies with a number of provincial archives (''landsarkiv''), to some extent subordinate to the National Archives. He was father of the zoologist and explorer

Teodor Odhner Nils Johan Teodor Odhner (February 25, 1879 – October 29, 1928) was a Swedish zoologist. Odhner was born in Lund, Sweden. He was the son of the historian and archivist Clas Theodor Odhner and the father of the agronomist Clas-Erik Odhner. O ...

. The engineer Willgodt Odhner was the son of his first cousin.

References

*Herman Schück, "Odhner, Clas Jonas Theodor", ''Svenskt biografiskt lexikon'', vol. 28. 1836 births 1904 deaths Members of the Swedish Academy Swedish archivists 19th-century Swedish historians Uppsala University alumni Academic staff of Lund University Burials at Norra begravningsplatsen People from Alingsås {{sweden-historian-stub