Ragna Ahlbäck (1914 – 2002) was a Finnish
ethnographer
Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...
and
archivist
An archivist is an information professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to records and archives determined to have long-term value. The records maintained by an archivist can consis ...
.
Early life
Ragna Ulrica Ahlbäck (née Nikander) was born on 17 July 1914 in
Porvoo
Porvoo (; sv, Borgå ; la, Borgoa) is a city and a municipality in the Uusimaa region of Finland, situated on the southern coast about east of the city border of Helsinki and about from the city centre. Porvoo was one of the six medieval to ...
. She grew up in
Turku
Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...
where her father, cultural historian and professor
Gabriel Nikander, taught at
Ã…bo Akademi
Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; 1 ...
University. Niklander completed her doctoral dissertation in 1955. "Kökar: näringslivet och dess organisation i en utskärssocken" established her as a pioneer in the area of Nordic studies.
Family life
Ragna married the linguist
Olav Ahlback. The couple had a son,
Tore
Tore is a Scandinavian masculine name. It is derived from the Old Norse name ''Thórir'', which is composed of ''thorr'' which means thunder, and ''arr'' which means warrior. So Thunder Warrior or Thor's Warrior. The most famous person by this na ...
, who became a
theologian
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing th ...
and
librarian
A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users.
The role of the librarian has changed much over time ...
.
Career
Ahlbäck served over 44 years as archivist for
Svenska Litteratursällskapet Finland, the Swedish Literature Society's folklore archive in Finland. She began her professional work in 1937, which included field work throughout Finland, and later, Sweden.
In 1965 she moved to
Malax
Malax (; fi, Maalahti) is a municipality of Finland.
It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population dens ...
where she founded th
Kvarken Boat Museumwith her husband.
Later life
Alback died in
Pargas
Pargas ( fi, Parainen) is a town and municipality of Finland, in the Archipelago Sea, the biggest archipelago in the world by the number of islands, 50,000. The big limestone mine in Pargas is the base of the main industry and except for the cen ...
on 6 September 2002. Her extensive research archives, including a number of films from the 1950s and 1960s featuring traditional farming and fishing practices, are held at the Swedish Literature Society archives.
Bibliography
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References
External links
News article featuring women who contributed to the Swedish Literature SocietyShort feature on YouTube
* Ragna Ahlback (in Swedish)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahlback, Ragna
Women archivists
Finnish ethnographers
1914 births
2002 deaths