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 work as a private teacher. In 1812 he began his studies at the Uppsala University and later became professor of Aesthetics in 1829 and in Latin 1832.

Törneros spent most of his life as an academic teacher in Latin and was a part of the literary circle around Geijer and Atterbom, which was his closest friends.

Törneros is one of the greatest letter writers of Swedish literature and was one of his time's greatest travel writer. Törneros longed every spring out of the countryside, where he in his many letters, described the impressions from the travels of the Swedish landscape around Lake Mälaren.

Landscapes and environments are described with extreme detail and the adventures are portrayed with a particularly lively language. In a letter to his mother, on the 29 of December 1828, the hike from the home of the Geijer family he describes, at half past seven on Christmas Eve 1828:

 

"the Snow cracked under my boots – the twenty-degree cold bit like a shark after my nose tip, ears and fingers – the star filled sky stared with grim eyes down over it as well as to the Earth, dressed in white for the weekend – Orion, just rised out of the southeast, sparkling one seemed to hear it – the moon was still and behind the clouds, but nontheless,  you saw its rays.

Adolph Törneros was described as lanky, with a slight bird profile. His friend Atterbom found in Törneros' quick movement him to unmistakable resemble a bird.

His last Christmas Törneros spent with the Atterbom family. Sheubsequently, Törneros fell ill and died in his home three weeks later in what was described as a form of typhoid. Geijer said:

 

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

 

Burial site: 0112-0557

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

1898–1978.

Botanist, writer.

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

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

After her husband's death in 1933, she completed the work of Flora of Egypt , which was released 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 a number of popular botanical works, such as the Pharaoh's Flower (1951), Egypt in close-up (1964), the Desert Blossoms (1969) and the Fairytale Minarets (1971).

Vivi Täckholm also wrote children's books, such as the saga of Snipp Snapp Snorum (1926) and Lillan's journey to the Moon (1976). In the 1960s, Täckholm also received a lot of attention through several television programs.

 

Burial site: 0131-1356

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

1879–1944.

Artist, author.

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

He studied between 1902–1906 at the Academy of Arts and its etching school. Thunman then devoted himself to landscape painting, which, like his lyric poetry, is based on the cultural landscape of Uppland. Thunman painted in an impressionist style, often with dusky tones, but later moved to topographically accurate drawings and ink wash paintings.

He moved in 1928 to a house at Noor's Castle in Knivsta and lived there for life. Often, Thunman went out to the landscape, on foot or by bike, with pen and paper in his hand. He was often dressed in grey wadmal suit with leg lindens, and is as such depicted in a sculpture outside the Särsta Inn in Knivsta.

The lyrics are collected in books such as Pan Spelar (1919), Olandssånger (1927) and Fornbygd och färdvägar (1929). The most famous poem is "Vi gå över dew-spotted mountains" to a tune of uncertain origin, possibly from a Hälsingian melody.

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

At the grave, members of the choir OD sang "Over the forest, over the lake" with lyrics and music by the composer A.F. Lindblad.

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

There is snow over the bird song
And the waterfall sleeps at the Island Bridge.
In the night a prisoner of winter listens
In vain after the tone of spring.

 

Burial site: 0115-0801

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

1743–1828.

Botanist, physician.

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

Thunberg then pursued medical studies in Paris before being the ship's doctor on a ship going from the Netherlands to Cape Town, to stay for three years to explore the area's nature. The studies were documented in Flora capensis (1-3, 1807 – 1813). Thunberg was the first to describe the flora in 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 of Japan's Linnaeus.

Poster of Japanese Maple retrieved from Icones plantarum Japonicarum [Poster 5 part V, 1805]. Photo: Uppsala University Library.

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

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

Thunberg also published the Journey in Europe, Africa, Asia, established the years 1770–1779 (1-4, 1788 – 1793). The collections from the trips were deposited at the University library.

Carl Peter Thunberg's estate Tunaberg, north of the Svartbäcken creek in Uppsala, where he lived the rest of his long life, was known for his prestigious horticulture well into the 1940s.

 

Burial site: 0101-0103

Image description : Carl Peter Thunberg, 1801. Engraver Anton Ulrik Berndes. Photo: UUB. [ The image is cropped ]
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Mari Simmulson

1911–2000.

Potter.

Mari Simmulson was born in St. Petersburg by Estonian parents and received her sculptor training at the state Art school in Tallinn. In the 1930s she practiced at the Finnish porcelain factory Arabia.

In 1944 Simmulson moved to Sweden and began working together with Wilhelm Kåge at Gustavsberg Porcelain. Mari Simmulson was active at Gustavsberg until 1949 and then returned to Upsala Ekeby where her most remembered production was created.

Characteristic of Simmulsons art are imaginative, colourful and decorative figures, vases and reliefs as well as free sculptural pieces, such as "Balinese", which was quickly sold out and "The Boy on the turtle" that was made for many years.

Simmulson also performed more decorative assignments and several of her works are exhibited at the Uppsala Art Museum.

"Mari Simmulson exhibits a new collection, Presenta AB, Östra Ågatan 39, Uppsala 1959. Photography: Uppsala-Bild / Upplandsmuseet.

A plate performed by Mari Simmulson around 1950. Square with rounded corners and sides. Earthenware with white glaze and decor in pastel colors. Photography: Olle Norling / Upplandsmuseet.

Burial site: 0406-0001 (Memorial grove, 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 constable, Baron, district court judge.

Edward Raab became chief of police in Uppsala in 1879 and died on his post.

However, his notoriety, which reached far beyond the borders of Uppsala, is not so much based on police deeds but more on Raab's linguistic somersaults and statements which wasn't thaught through. Albert Engström immortalized Raab through many stories and drawings in the magazine Strix.

Much of what police chief Raab is said to be the author of is obviously enhanced by others. However, there are ordinances and decrees from his pen, which demonstrate originality.

For example, it was laid down in an order regarding the street maintenance:

"When new snow has fallen, the old snow must first desposed of".

A crime scene investigation concluded: "Judging by the size of the hole in the plane, the number of burglars seemed to have been just one." In instructions for handling anonymous letters, it was stipulated: "Anonymous letters shall be returned to the sender".

Edward Raab, described as honest, good and beneficial, often went dressed in his police master's uniform. Rabb was convivial, paternal and popular was among students, although they occasionally spent nights in custody.

In the foreground to right police chief Raab, behind him Constable Sandgren, at Uppsala Cathedral in connection of the 300 anniversary of Uppsala meeting, 1893. Photographer: Heinrich Osti / Uppsala University Library.

Police the years XII: 5. At Linneanum in the Botanical Garden in Uppsala about 1880-approx. 1901, police chief Raab. Several of the police officers ' names are recorded on the back of the mounting sheet. Photographer: Alfred Dahlgren/UUB.

Burial site: 0116-0836

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

1848–1949.

Pastry chef, poet.

Erik Ofvandahl became early an orphan and came as a poor caring child to the village of Ovandal in Stora Tuna. As an adult, Ofvandahl took his name from that place.

Ofvandahl came to Uppsala as a sugar beetle journeyman and in 1885 started his own confectionery 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 Ofvandahl's soon became a meeting place for students and literary gatherings.

During the 1880s, Ofvandahl often participated in the radical fraternity Verdandis gatherings, which were often held at the pastry shop. At these meetings, Ofvandahl was known for his witty replies and debate speeches on verse.

He was a reputable pastry chef, but the fame stems mainly from the literary creation in the Pekorala genre. Part of the production was funded by Ofvandahl himself.

Ulf Peder Olrog praised his bakery art with the following lines: "At Ofvandahls Patisserie among cakes, you and I, my friend, have both gotten our chins".

Although the Ofvandahl was sometimes subjected to mockery by the students, in hist time, the judgement of him was undivided positive. Erik Ofvandahl is described as a person who dared to live out his individuality and that he was a pleasing companion who was happy to play on 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. Photo: Swedish Biographical dictionary / National Archives. [The image is cropped]
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Ida Norrby

1869–1934.

Household educator.

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

Apart from a few short stays in the birth city of Kalmar, she spent her childhood and adolescence in Uppsala. After the small school teacher education, Norrby studied home economics, chemistry, physiology and Health Sciences in Edinburgh.

Back to Uppsala in 1894, she was employed at the Department of Home economics at Uppsala Enskilda Grammar School where J. A. Lundell was the principal. The following year the school was formed for the home economy, where Norrby was the director of 1933.

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

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

In 1903, Norrby published the Home Cookbook, 50 editions of which were published (1994), and she was also responsible for the preparation of the Little Cookbook (1926), the School Cookbook (1925) and the Big Cookbook (1926).

She was one of the founders of the Swedish Association of Mistresses Association and was its Chairman 1919–1926 and chairman of both the Swedish school kitchen teachers Association 1913–1926 and the Swedish Crafts Educator Association 1919–1929.

Ida Norrby was also a member of the Uppsala City Council from 1919 to 1930 and became an honorary doctor at Uppsala University in 1927.

 

Burial site: 0134-2143

Image description: Ida Norrby ca 1920–1930. Photo: Ellen Claeson / UUB. [The image is cropped]
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Bruno Liljefors

1860–1939.

Artist.

Bruno Liljefors, son of Anders and Margareta Liljefors, a gunpowder merchant, studied at the Academy of Fine Arts from 1879 to 1882 and then went to work for 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 Sweden's foremost painters for his nature and animal motifs and renowned internationally. Like Carl Larsson, Liljefors was inspired by Japanese art and created daylight painting according to the principles of naturalism. With the painting "Capercaille Courtship" and "Night Piece", as well as another pair of works, he captured the second class medal at the World Exhibition in Paris 1889.

The prelude to Liljefors archipelago paintings is the morning atmosphere of the sea from 1896 followed by a series of works with sea and bird motifs generally painted in large format: "Eagle-owl by the Sea", "Dormant great black-backed gull", "Chasing diver", "Resting wild geese" and "Eurasian curlews" 1899.

Among Liljefors publications, the memoir volume of The Wilds Kingdom (1934) can be mentioned. Collections of art are available at the National Museum, Gothenburg Art Museum, Thiel 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 family at Uppsala Castle. There she took part in Uppsala's romantic movement with people such as Malla Silfverstolpe, Atterbom and Wennerberg.

Von Kræmer debuted in 1863 with the Poetry collection and also published travelogues and dramas. She also befriended and got to know Thekla Knös and Ann Margret Holmgren.

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

She was also generous to the Fredrika Bremer Association, the Friends of the hand work, Östermalms work cabin for poor children and the Association for Women's Suffrage in Stockholm.

Kræmer moved in the 1870s to Östermalm in Stockholm and lived there until her death. The house was donated to the Fellowship of the nine that von Kræmer set up by bequeathing the majority of her wealth to it. The Fellowship of the nine, which still consists, is a literary academy with the task of supporting Swedish literature through prize awards to Swedish authors.

 

Burial site: 0152-0048

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