Ulla Johansen (17 June 1927 – 14 February 2021) was an Estonian-born German ethnologist.

Biography

Johansen's mother was of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

and

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

...

descent, and her father,

Paul Johansen Paul Wulff Johansen (December 23, 1901 – April 14, 1965) was an Estonian and German historian of Danish origin. Early life and education Paul Johansen was born in Tallinn to Jens Christian Johansen, a Danish land improvement engineer. He was ...

, was of Danish descent. Due to the occupation of Estonia by the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

as part of the

Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, officially the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and also known as the Hitler–Stalin Pact and the Nazi–Soviet Pact, was a non-aggression pact between Nazi Ge ...

, her family moved to

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

in 1939. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, she began studying in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

in 1947. Her father found a job as a professor and recommended her to study ethnology, which would become her major. After she completed her doctorate, she became a translator for the

German Red Cross The German Red Cross (GRC) ( ; DRK) is the national Red Cross Society in Germany. During the Nazi era, the German Red Cross was under the control of the Nazi Party and played a role in supporting the regime's policies, including the exclusion ...

before serving as a scientific assistant at the

Museum am Rothenbaum The Museum am Rothenbaum – Kulturen und Künste der Welt (lit. ''Museum at the Rotherbaum, Rothenbaum – Cultures and Arts of the World'', abbr.: MARKK, former name: Museum of Ethnology, Hamburg, ), founded in 1879, is today one of the largest ...

from 1954 to 1955. After that, she conducted field research in Turkey, where she lived with a family of nomads and was a visiting professor in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

in 1970. Johansen directed the ethnology department at the

University of Cologne The University of Cologne () is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in 1388. It closed in 1798 before being re-established in 1919. It is now one of the largest universities in Germany with around 45,187 students. The Universit ...

from 1973 to 1990 and served on the ethnology committee of the

German Research Foundation The German Research Foundation ( ; DFG ) is a German research funding organization, which functions as a self-governing institution for the promotion of science and research in the Federal Republic of Germany. In 2019, the DFG had a funding bud ...

from 1976 to 1980. From 1981 to 2001, she was on the selection committee of the

Alexander von Humboldt Foundation The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation () is a foundation that promotes international academic cooperation between scientists and scholars from Germany and abroad. Established by the government of the Federal Republic of Germany, it is funded by t ...

and chaired the from 1985 to 1989. In 2018, she was presented with a gold medal from the

Russian Geographical Society The Russian Geographical Society (), or RGO, is a learned society based in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It promotes geography, exploration and nature protection with research programs in fields including oceanography, ethnography, ecology and stati ...

Russian President The president of Russia, officially the president of the Russian Federation (), is the executive head of state of Russia. The president is the chair of the Federal State Council and the supreme commander-in-chief of the Russian Armed Forces. I ...

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

. Ulla Johansen died in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

on 14 February 2021 at the age of 93.

Works

*''Die Ornamentik der Jakuten'' (1954) *''Uued teooriad ja meetodid etnoloogias'' (1991) *''Beruf und Ethik. Kriterien sozialer Schichtung bei Kleinstädtern in Estland'' (1994) *''Der eurasiatische Schamanismus'' (2000) *''Tibetische Religionen und der Schamanismus'' (2000) *''Network Analysis and Ethnographic Problems. Process Models of a Turkish Nomad Clan'' (2004) *''Türkiye’de yörüklerin yayla hayatı – elli yil önce'' (2005)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johansen, Ulla 1927 births 2021 deaths German ethnologists German people of Estonian descent German people of Danish descent People from Tallinn Estonian emigrants to Germany