Henrik Samuel (H.S.) Nyberg (28 December 1889 – 9 February 1974) 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 ...

scholar of broad interest and a well known expert of

Iranology Iranian studies ( '), also referred to as Iranology and Iranistics, is an interdisciplinary field dealing with the research and study of the civilization, history, literature, art and culture of Iranian peoples. It is a part of the wider field ...

and

Arab studies Arab studies or Arabic studies is an academic discipline centered on the study of Arabs and Arab World. It consists of several disciplines such as anthropology, sociology, linguistics, historiography, archaeology, cultural studies, economics, geog ...

.Carlo G. Cereti, "NYBERG, Henrik Samuel" in Encyclopaedia Iranica
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Life

Nyberg was born in Söderbärke in Southern

Dalecarlia Dalarna (; ), also referred to by the English exonyms Dalecarlia and the Dales, is a (historical province) in central Sweden. Dalarna adjoins Härjedalen, Hälsingland, Gästrikland, Västmanland and Värmland. It is also bordered by Norway ...

(Sweden) on 28 December 1889. When he was 19, he moved to

Uppsala Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Loc ...

to undertake university courses. There, he studied from Classical languages to

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

and to the Semitic idioms. Nyberg set up the

Middle Persian Middle Persian, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg ( Inscriptional Pahlavi script: , Manichaean script: , Avestan script: ) in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasania ...

curriculum as a possible subject of study at the University of Uppsala and he felt the need for teaching it by meeting Western scholarly standards. Nyberg’s single most important contribution to the study of Iranian religions is his ''Irans forntida religioner'' (1937). Overall, Nyberg was a scholar of extremely broad interests, competent in a number of different fields, both in Semitic and Iranian studies. He taught at the

Fjellstedt School The Fjellstedt School (Swedish: ) was a private boarding school in Uppsala, Sweden, founded in 1862 and closed in 1982, with the main aim of preparing students for academic studies in theology and the priesthood in the Lutheran Church of Swed ...

and

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 ...

. He was a member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences () is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special responsibility for promoting nat ...

from 1943, and 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 ...

(on seat number 3) from 1948. Nyberg had many distinguished students in Iranian Studies, among them

Geo Widengren Geo Widengren (24 April 1907 – 28 January 1996) was a Swedish historian of religions, professor of history of religions at Uppsala University, orientalist and Iranist. Widengren wrote a series of works on Iranian religions (in particular M ...

Stig Wikander Oscar Stig Wikander (27 August 1908 – 20 December 1983) was a Swedish Indologist, Iranologist and religious scientist. Biography Stig Wikander was born in Norrtälje, Sweden on 27 August 1908, the son of a pharmacist. After graduating from hi ...

, Sven S. Hartman, and

Bo Utas Bo Utas, born May 26, 1938, in Höglunda, a village in Jämtland, Sweden, is a Swedish linguist, Iranologist and chess historian. He is professor emeritus in Iranian languages at Uppsala University, and a scholar on Persian historical lingui ...

. His daughters were the language scholar ( Icelandic) and translator Ingegerd Fries and journalist, travel author and Orientalist

Sigrid Kahle Sigrid Ida Matilda Kahle (née Nyberg; 18 September 1928 – 31 December 2013) was a Swedish journalist and writer. She was born in Paris in 1928, to the orientalist H.S. Nyberg and his wife Fanny, née Hasselberg. She grew up in Uppsala where ...

. Kahle married John Kahle, a West German diplomat and son of

Paul Kahle Paul Ernst Kahle (January 21, 1875 – September 24, 1964) was a German orientalist and scholar. Biography Born 21 January 1875, in Olsztynek, Prussia, Kahle studied orientalism and theology in Marburg and Halle. He attained his doctorate i ...

, while Fries married Sigurd Fries, great-grandson of renowned Swedish

mycologist Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their taxonomy, genetics, biochemical properties, and use by humans. Fungi can be a source of tinder, food, traditional medicine, as well as entheogens, poison, and ...

Elias Fries Elias Magnus Fries (15 August 1794 – 8 February 1878) was a Swedish mycologist and botanist. He is sometimes called the "Linnaeus of Mycology". In his works he described and assigned botanical names to hundreds of fungus and lichen sp ...

Works

*''Kitāb al-Intiṣār by al-Khayyāṭ'' *''Frahang ī Pahlavīg'' (''The Middle Iranian dictionary of ideograms'')

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nyberg, Henrik Samuel Swedish Iranologists Academic staff of Uppsala University Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Members of the Swedish Academy 1889 births 1974 deaths Burials at Uppsala old cemetery