Inger Arvidsdotter Thorén (née Bildt) (30 September 1913 – 18 November 1985), was a Swedish chemical engineer and food chemist. In 1938, she became the first woman assistant appointed at

KTH Royal Institute of Technology KTH Royal Institute of Technology (), abbreviated KTH, is a Public university, public research university in Stockholm, Sweden. KTH conducts research and education in Institute of technology, engineering and technology and is Sweden's largest te ...

Early life and education

Inger Bildt was born on 30 September 1913 in Sankt Matteus 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 ...

, the daughter of Signe Borg and bureau chief Arvid Bildt. She graduated from the

Master of Science in Engineering A Master of Science in Engineering (MSE) is an academic graduate degree awarded by universities in many countries. It is differentiated from a Master of Engineering (a professional degree). A MSE can require completion of a thesis and qualifi ...

in chemical engineering in 1938, and was appointed as the first female assistant in the university after graduation. After marriage in 1941, she was known as Inger Thorén.Inger Thorén död: Ovanligt kunnig livsmedelskemist, ''

Svenska Dagbladet (, "The Swedish Daily News"), abbreviated SvD, is a daily List of Swedish newspapers, newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden. History and profile The first issue of appeared on 18 December 1884. During the beginning of the 1900s the pap ...

'' 23 November 1985 p 18.

Career

Thorén was an operations engineer at pharmacutical company Kabi in Hornsberg in Stockholm between 1940 and 1949 and a cereal chemist at the

Kooperativa Förbundet KF (, "Co-operative Union") is a federation of consumer co-operatives in Sweden and a retail group, with groceries as its core business. History KF was founded in 1899 by 41 local consumer co-operatives in order to support them with informatio ...

Cooperative Association's bakery laboratory between 1953 and 1957.Dödsfall Inger Thorén, ''

Dagens Nyheter (, ), abbreviated ''DN'', is a daily newspaper in Sweden. It is published in Stockholm and aspires to full national and international coverage, and is widely considered Sweden's newspaper of record A newspaper of record is a major nationa ...

'' 22 November 1985 p 37 She worked at Kvarnen Tre Kronor's development laboratory from 1957 until 1960, and then as product manager at Kungsörnen's development department from 1960 to 1970. Thorén was active in the Swedish Association for Nutrition and held teaching posts at various university departments in the field. In her development work as a food chemist, Thorén was interviewed regularly from the 1950s into the 1980s in both national and local newspapers. Pieces covered subjects including school bread, ideal flour,

corn flakes Corn flakes, or cornflakes, are a breakfast cereal made from toasting flakes of corn (maize). Originally invented as a Breakfast, breakfast food to counter indigestion, it has become a popular food item in the American cuisine, American diet and ...

, protein additives in flour, labelling for sell and use by dates when it was introduced, and preservatives. She also appeared on the TV programme Konsumentens brevlåda in 1964.''Dagens Nyheter'' 16 April 1964 p 19. She wrote articles for the magazine ''Livsmedelsteknik'' and contributed to teaching materials such as ''Bagerikemi'' (1956), ''Bättre brödsäd'' (1956) and ''Att baka bröd'' (1983). After retirement, Thorén worked as a consultant and carried out studies for the Svensk spannmålshandel (Swedish Grain Trade) and the Brödinstitutet (Bread Institute) in Stockholm. She was a member of the Bildt Family Association and the Bildt Homestead Museum in Morlanda on

Orust Orust () is an island in Bohuslän, western Sweden. In 2014 Statistics Sweden declared it to ibe the fourth largest island in Sweden, under a definition which adds artificial canals to the possible bodies of water surrounding an island. It has bee ...

Personal life

Inger Thorén married the property manager Ernst Thorén (1913–1985) in 1941 and had three children with him, including veterinarian Kerstin Thorén Tolling. Inger Thorén died on 18 November 1985 in Huddinge parish in Stockholm County.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thoren, Inger 1913 births 1985 deaths 20th-century Swedish engineers Women engineers Engineers from Stockholm Scientists from Stockholm Chemical engineering Food engineers