Adolph Törneros

1794-1839.

Author, humanist, philologist.

Adolph Törneros was born in Eskilstuna on Christmas Eve 1794. At the age of 12 he began to earn a living as a private tutor and was enrolled at Uppsala University in 1812, later becoming professor of aesthetics in 1829 and of Latin in 1832.

Törneros spent most of his life as an academic teacher of Latin and in the literary circle of Geijer and Atterbom, who were among his closest friends.

Törneros is one of the foremost letter-writers in Swedish literature and was one of the foremost travel writers of his time. From the city of learning, Törneros longed every spring for the countryside, where from spring to autumn equinox, in his many letters, he described the impressions of his travels in the central Swedish summer landscape around Lake Mälaren.

The landscapes and environments are drawn with great detail, and the adventures and hardships are described in particularly lively and vivid language. In a letter to his mother dated December 29, 1828, he describes his walk from his home to the Geijer family at half past six on Christmas Eve 1828:

 

"The snow creaked harshly under the galoshes - a twenty-degree chill bit like a shark at the tip of the nose and earlobes and fingertips - the starry sky stared down with grim eyes over the earth, which was dressed in white as if for the weekend - Orion, just climbed out of the southeast, sparkled so that one seemed to hear it - the moon [sic] was still lying and tumbling in the tidal waters, but splashed up unseen a cascade of rays."

Adolph Törneros was described as outwardly gangly, with a slender birdlike profile. His friend Atterbom found "in the quick mobility of the figure and the flying speed of the gait, an unmistakable impression of a bird".

Törneros spent his last Christmas with the Atterbom family. Törneros then fell ill and died at home three weeks later of what was described as a form of typhus. Geijer said:

 

"He had too little ballast, so he flew away from us".

 

Burial site: 0112-0557

Image description: Portrait of Adolph Törneros. Unknown master, oil painting from the 1830s. Photo: UUBThe image is cropped]
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Vivi Täckholm

1898-1978.

Botanist, author.

Vivi Täckholm studied at Stockholm University and conducted botanical studies in Berlin, London and Geneva.

In 1926, she and her husband, Professor of Botany Gunnar Täckholm, moved to Cairo and together they mapped the plant world of Egypt.

After her husband's death in 1933, she completed work on the Flora of Egypt, which was published in four parts, Part 1 (1941), Part 2 (1944), Part 3 (1954) and Part 4 (1966). In 1946, Täckholm became Professor of Botany at the University of Cairo and lived there for most of her life.

Täckholm also published several popular botanical works, such as Pharaoh's Flowers (1951), Egypt in Close-up (1964), The Desert in Bloom (1969) and The Minarets of the Saga (1971).

Vivi Täckholm also wrote children's books, such as The Saga of Snipp Snapp Snorum (1926) and Lillans resa till månen (1976). In the 1960s, Täckholm also gained a lot of attention through several TV programs.

 

Burial site: 0131-1356

Image description: Vivi Täckholm, year unknown. Photo: Staffan Norstedt / Wikimedia Commons. [The image is cropped]
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Olof Thunman

1879-1944.

Artist, writer.

Olof Thunman was born in the Imperfectum student house on Västra Ågatan, where the St. Lars Catholic parish is now located.

He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts and its etching school between 1902 and 1906. Thereafter, Thunman devoted himself to landscape painting, which, like his poetry, is based on the cultural landscape of Uppland. Thunman painted in an impressionistic style, often with twilight tones, but later switched to topographically precise drawings and washes.

In 1928, he moved to the gatehouse at Noor's castle in Knivsta and lived there for the rest of his life. Thunman often went out into the countryside, on foot or by bicycle, with pen and paper in hand. He often wore a gray wadding suit with leg wraps, and as such is depicted in a sculpture outside Särsta Inn in Knivsta.

The poetry is collected in books such as Pan Spelar (1919), Olandssånger (1927) and Fornbygd och färdvägar (1929). The most famous poem is "Vi gå över daggstänkta berg" to a melody of uncertain origin, possibly from a Hälsingemeelodi.

In October 1944, Olof Thunman died and after the burial ceremony on October 28 in Uppsala Cathedral, the funeral procession went through Odinslund past Carolina, via Övre Slottsgatan into Åsgrändsgrinden. The procession was lined by a crowd of thousands, who with torches honored the deceased.

After the coffin was lowered into the grave, a double quartet from OD sang "Over the forest, over the lake" with text and music by composer A.F. Lindblad.

The following stanza is taken from the poem "Winter Night", Olandssånger, 1927.

There is snow over Fågelsången
And the case sleeps at the Iceland Bridge.
In the night, a winter prisoner listens
In vain for a spring tone.

 

Burial site: 0115-0801

Image description: Olof Thunman ca 1940. Photo: Gunnar Sundgren / UUBThe image is cropped]
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Carl Peter Thunberg

1743-1828.

Botanist, doctor.

In 1770, after studying with Carl Linnaeus, Carl Peter Thunberg embarked on a nine-year trip abroad that began in the Netherlands. There Thunberg met the most prominent botanists of the time.

Thunberg then studied medicine in Paris before sailing from the Netherlands to Cape Town as a ship's doctor, staying for three years to explore the nature of the area. These studies were documented in Flora capensis (1-3, 1807-1813). Thunberg was the first to describe the flora of South Africa and has therefore been called the father of South African flora.

In 1775 Thunberg continued to Japan where he collected material for his Flora japonica (1784). The work was epoch-making for the knowledge of Japan's plant world and Thunberg received the honorary name Japan's Linnaeus.

Plate of Japanese maple taken from Icones plantarum Japonicarum [plate 5 part V, 1805]. Photo: UUB.

Illustration (frontispiece) from Voyages de C. P. Thunberg au Japon [...], tome I, Paris, An. IV [1796]. Photo: UUB.

In 1779 Thunberg returned to Uppsala and in 1784 succeeded Carl Linnaeus the Younger as professor of medicine and botany.

Thunberg also published Resa uti Europa, Africa, Asia förrättad åren 1770-1779 (1-4, 1788-1793). The collections from the trips were deposited at the University Library.

Carl Peter Thunberg's farm Tunaberg north of Svartbäcken in Uppsala, where he lived for the rest of his long life, was known for its excellent horticultural crops well into the 1940s.

 

Burial site: 0101-0103

Image description: Portrait Carl Peter Thunberg, 1808, artist Pehr Krafft the Younger. Photo: Mikael Wallerstedt / GustavianumThe image is cropped]
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Mari Simmulson

1911-2000.

Ceramist.

Mari Simmulson was born in St. Petersburg to Estonian parents and trained as a sculptor at the Tallinn State Art Academy. In the 1930s she trained at the Finnish porcelain factory Arabia.

In 1944, Simmulson moved to Sweden and began working with Wilhelm Kåge at the Gustavsberg porcelain factory. Mari Simmulson worked at Gustavsberg until 1949 and then returned to Upsala Ekeby where her most remembered production was created.

Characteristic of Simmulson's art are imaginative, colorful and decorative figures, vases and reliefs as well as freely sculptural pieces, such as the "Balinese", which was quickly sold out and the "boy on the turtle", which was produced for many years.

Simmulson also carried out major decorative commissions, and several of her works are exhibited at Uppsala Konstmuseum.

"Mari Simmulson demonstrates the new collection of chamotte ware", Presenta AB, Östra Ågatan 39, Uppsala 1959. Photo: Uppsala-Bild / Upplandsmuseet.

Barrel made by Mari Simmulson around 1950. Square with rounded corners and sides. Earthenware with white bottom glaze and decoration in pastel colors. Photo: Olle Norling / Upplandsmuseet.

Burial site: 0406-0001 (Memorial grove in the Old Cemetery)

Image description: Mari Simmulson, Uppsala 1960. Photo: Uppsala-Bild / Upplandsmuseet. [The image is cropped]
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Edvard Raab

1841-1901.

Chief of police, baron, alderman.

Edvard Raab became Chief Constable of Uppsala in 1879 and died in office.

His fame, which reached far beyond the borders of Uppsala, was not so much based on his police work as on Raab's linguistic quirks and mental aberrations. Albert Engström immortalized Raab through many stories and drawings in the magazine Strix.

Much of what this Chief Constable Raab is said to have authored has obviously been corrected by others. However, there are ordinances and decrees from his pen, which demonstrate the peculiarity.

For example, it was laid down in a street regulation:

"When new snow falls, the old snow must be removed first".

A crime scene investigation stated: 'Judging by the size of the hole in the floorboard, the burglars appeared to have been only one in number'. The instructions for handling anonymous letters stated: "Anonymous letters shall be returned unopened to the sender".

Edvard Raab, who was described as honest, good and charitable, often wore his police chief's uniform. Raab was friendly, fatherly and popular among the students, despite the fact that they occasionally spent nights in the cells.

In the foreground to the right, Chief Constable Raab, behind him Constable Sandgren, at Uppsala Cathedral on the occasion of the three hundredth anniversary of the Uppsala meeting, Jubelfesten 1893. Photographer: Heinrich Osti / UUB.

Police force XII:5. Chief Constable Raab with his men at the Linneanum in the Botanical Gardens in Uppsala ca 1880-ca 1901. Several of the policemen's names are written on the back of the mounting sheet. Photographer: Alfred Dahlgren / UUB.

Burial site: 0116-0836

Image description: Edvard Raab, Uppsala 1882. Photo: Heinrich Osti / UUBThe image is cropped]
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Erik Ofvandahl

1848-1949.

Pastry chef, pectoralist poet.

Erik Ofvandahl was orphaned at an early age and came to the village of Ovandal in Stora Tuna as a pauper. As an adult, Ofvandahl took his name from the village.

As a journeyman sugar baker, Ofvandahl came to Uppsala and started his own confectionery in 1885 at Östra Ågatan 31. Two years later, the confectionery was located at Sysslomansgatan 5, where it still is. In 1901 he changed his surname and the legendary Ofvandahls soon became a meeting place for students and literary gatherings.

In the 1880s, Ofvandahl often attended the meetings of the radical student association Verdandi, which were often held at the patisserie. At these meetings, Ofvandahl became known for his witty lines and debates in verse.

He was a renowned confectioner, but his fame stems mainly from his literary work in the pecoral genre. Part of the production was paid for by Ofvandahl himself.

Ulf Peder Olrog paid tribute to his baking skills with the following lines: "At Ofvandahl's patisserie among cakes, you and I, my friend, have both got our chins".

Despite the fact that Ofvandahl was sometimes subjected to ridicule by the students, the contemporary reviews of him were unanimously positive. Erik Ofvandahl is described as a person who dared to live out his individuality and that he was a pleasant companion who liked to play his violin. The author Birger Sjöberg writes:

 

"In the clear hall of heaven
where good thoughts bloom
me and pastry chef Ofvandahl
may rest among the pious".

 

Burial site: 0130-1293

Image description: Erik Ofvandahl, unknown year, unknown photographer. Image from: Ofvandahl, Erik "Blick och tanke". Uppsala, 1902, Almqvist & Wiksells Boktryckeri AB. Photo: Henrik Zetterberg. [The image is cropped]
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Ida Norrby

1869-1934.

Home economics teacher.

As a child, Ida Norrby was placed with her uncle, Professor Carl Norrby, and his wife, the educationalist Jane Miller Thengberg in Uppsala.

Apart from a few short stays in her native Kalmar, she spent her childhood and youth in Uppsala. After training as a primary school teacher, Norrby studied home economics, chemistry, physiology and health in Edinburgh.

Back in Uppsala in 1894, she was employed at the Department of Home Economics at Uppsala Enskilda Läroverk, where J. A. Lundell was headmaster. The following year, the School of Home Economics was established, where Norrby was director until 1933.

School of Home Economics, Trädgårdsgatan 14, Uppsala 1938. Photo: Paul Sandberg / Upplandsmuseet.

Graduate of the School of Home Economics, year unknown. Photo: Gunnar Sundgren / Upplandsmuseet.

In 1903, Norrby published Hemmets kokbok, which went through 50 editions (1994), and she was also responsible for the preparation of Lilla kokboken (1926), Skolans kokbok (1925) and Stora kokboken (1926).

She was one of the founders of the Swedish Association of Housewives and was its chairman from 1919 to 1926 and chairman of both the Swedish School Kitchen Teachers' Association from 1913 to 1926 and the Swedish Craft Teachers' Association from 1919 to 1929.

Ida Norrby was also a member of Uppsala City Council from 1919 to 1930 and received an honorary doctorate from Uppsala University in 1927.

 

Burial site: 0134-2143

Image description: Ida Norrby ca 1920-1930. Photo: Ellen Claeson / UUBThe image is cropped]
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Bruno Liljefors

1860-1939.

Artist.

Bruno Liljefors, son of the gunpowder dealer Anders and Margareta Liljefors, studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts from 1879 to 1882 and then traveled to the animal painter C. F. Deiker in Düsseldorf and from there to Grez-sur-Loing, where he stayed with Carl Larsson and others in the Swedish artists' colony.

Bruno Liljefors became one of the country's foremost animal painters with an international reputation and is best known for his nature and animal motifs. Like Carl Larsson, Liljefors was inspired by Japanese art and created daylight paintings based on naturalistic principles. With the painting "Tjäderspel" and "Nattstycke", as well as a couple of other works, he won the second class medal at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1889.

The start of Liljefors' archipelago paintings is Morning mood over the sea from 1896, followed by a series of works with sea and bird motifs, usually painted in large format: "Uv vid havet", "Vilande havstrutar", "Jagande lom", "Rastande vildgäss" and "Storspovar" in 1899.

Liljefors' publications include the memoir Det vildas rike (1934). Art collections are held at the National Museum, the Gothenburg Museum of Art, the Thielska Gallery and Uppsala University. Bruno Liljefors' studio in Österbybruk is preserved as a museum.

 

Burial site: 0206-1641

Image description: Bruno Liljefors, unknown year. Photo: Unknown photographer / Wikimedia Commons. [The image is cropped]
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Lotten von Kræmer

1828-1912.

Author, philanthropist.

Lotten von Kræmer grew up in the governor's family at Uppsala Castle. There she was exposed to the glamorous social life of Uppsala Romanticism, which included people such as Malla Silfverstolpe, Atterbom and Wennerberg.

Von Kræmer herself made her debut in 1863 with the collection Dikter and also published travelogues and plays. She also became friends and got to know Thekla Knös and Ann Margret Holmgren.

Lotten von Kræmer took a radical position on women's and peace issues, participated in public debate and supported the women's movement financially. She established the first female scholarship for female students at Uppsala University.

Kræmer also showed his generosity towards Fredrika Bremerförbundet, Handarbetets vänner, Östermalms arbetsstuga för fattig barn and Föreningen för kvinnans rösträtt i Stockholm.

Kræmer moved to Östermalm in Stockholm in the 1870s and lived there until his death. The house was donated to Samfundet De Nio, which von Kræmer established by bequeathing most of his fortune to it. Samfundet De Nio, which is still in existence, is a literary academy with the task of supporting Swedish literature by awarding prizes to Swedish authors.

 

Burial site: 0152-0048

Image description: Lotten von Kræmer, year unknown. Photo: From the archives of the De Nios Society. [The image is cropped]
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