Sven Lilja

1887-1951.

Music teacher, conductor, singing leader.

Through Hugo Alfvén's mediation, Sven Lilja was accepted at the Stockholm Conservatory of Music and studied there from 1912-1917.

After a few years as an actor, he worked as a singing and music teacher in Sundsvall, music teacher at Stockholm folk high schools, cantor in Sofia parish and conductor for the Stockholm Workers' Singing Association and the Stockholm Singers' Association. Sven Lilja introduced modern singing and turned it into a popular movement.

He led a sing-along movement in the countryside and on the radio, but above all at Skansen, where he led the movement for the first time in 1935. In the following years, the sing-along evenings at Skansen became a permanent institution.

Sven Lilja also plays himself in the movie 'Love and Singing' from 1944.

 

Burial site: 0132-1384

Image description: Sven Lilja wearing the classic singing costume, year unknown. Photo: From private collectionThe image is cropped].
Click here for an uncropped image

 

 

Sven Anders Hägg

1817-1904.

Master shoemaker, politician, author.

Sven Anders Hägg started as an apprentice shoemaker at the age of 10 and received his journeyman's certificate in 1840. Between 1845-1848, Hägg lived in Stockholm, St. Petersburg and Paris, where he witnessed the February Revolution.

Hägg came to Uppsala in 1848 and became a master craftsman for cobbler Lindgren's widow at Östra Ågatan 45. Hägg took over the workshop in 1852 and became a citizen of Uppsala. In the same year he founded the Allmänna sjuk- och begravningshjälpen in connection with the Hantverksföreningen and was a member of the city council from 1862-1866.

Hägg was a devoted teetotaler but liked to go to the theater, which was said to be "his only pleasure". As an author, he published The History of Footwear, Market Trade in the Cities and Description of the Old Cemetery in Uppsala.

On his 67th birthday, Hägg was presented with the King's gold medal of the 5th magnitude for civic merit by County Governor Adolf Hamilton.

Hägg had his farm at Gräsgränden next to the current mouth of Bangårdsgatan at Fyrisån. In the book about Upsala cemetery he writes about his children: "Two children, a boy close to two years and a girl at the age of four, are buried here".

 

Burial site: 0156-0253

Image description: Sven Anders Hägg, Uppsala ca 1850. Photo: Karl Ågren / UUBThe image is cropped]
Click here for an uncropped image

 

 

Sixtus Janson

1883-1957.

Manufacturer, sports leader.

Sixtus Janson helped to form the Thor sports association and several other local associations in Uppsala, such as the Uppsala Canoe Society and the Uppsala Sailing Society. Janson was also involved in the formation of the Upplands idrottsförbund in 1912 and was its chairman for five years.

Together with Albin Lindqvist and J. E. Friberg, he took over the Uppsala office book factory at Drottninggatan 6 in 1906. In 1917, the business was moved to Svintorget, today's Kungsängstorg, where Janson lived with his family.

At the national level, he was elected to the boards of several specialized federations within the Swedish Sports Confederation, such as the Cycling Federation, the Athletics Federation, the Ice Sailing Federation and the Swedish Ski Federation, where he was chairman from 1922 to 1948. Sixtus Janson was also a member of the Swedish Olympic Committee and leader of the Swedish ski team during five Olympic Winter Games, from Chamonix 1924 to St. Moritz 1948.

Sixtus Janson led an active life beyond his work at the factory and his sport. His passion was sailing and he was also a keen photographer.

IF Thor's athletes in 1906 lined up at their sports ground south of Uppsala Castle. Sixtus Janson third from left. Photo: Folkrörelsearkivet för Uppsala län.

Upsala office book factory, probably 1950s, Kungsängstorg in Uppsala. The Janson family had an apartment at the top of the factory. The building was demolished around 1970. Photo: Folkrörelsearkivet för Uppsala län.

Burial site: 0108-0417

Image description: Sixtus Janson in the Royal Swedish Sailing Society's cap 1907. Photo: Östling, Uppsala / Folkrörelsearkivet för Uppsala län. [The image is cropped]
Click here for an uncropped image

 

 

Maria Henschen

1840-1927.

Governor, teacher.

Maria Henschen opened a private school for girls in her father's (Lars W. Henschen) farm, which was located between Kyrkogårdsgatan, Åsgränd and Övre Slottsgatan.

She then became the first headmistress of the 'Magdeburg' (Uppsala Higher Elementary School for Women), which she also owned.

 

Burial site: 0101-0023

Image description: Maria Henschen, Uppsala 1877. Photo: Heinrich Osti / UUBThe image is cropped]
Click here for an uncropped image

 

 

Ellen Hagen

1873-1967.

Women's rights activist, publicist and politician.

Ellen Hagen initiated the formation of the Uppsala Women's Suffrage Association in 1902 and was its president until 1923. Hagen was one of the foremost advocates of women's suffrage in Sweden. She was married to Robert Hagen, who was County Governor of Gävleborg County from 1918 to 1922.

She was also one of the initiators of the National Association for Women's Political Suffrage, and one of the founders of Frisinnade kvinnor 1914. Hagen was chairman of the Swedish People's Party Women's Association 1938-1946 and of the Swedish Women's Civic Association 1936-1963.

Ellen Hagen also participated in international peace and suffrage work and was a Swedish delegate at the disarmament conference in Paris in 1931.

 

Burial site: 0103-1967

Image description: Ellen Hagen, unknown year. Photo: Länsmuseet Gävleborg. [The image is cropped]
Click here for an uncropped image

 

 

Barbro Holmdahl

1925-1998.

Nurse, author, teacher.

Barbro Holmdahl was a teacher at Vårdhögskolan and a trained nurse at Uppsala sjuksköterskehems sjuksköterskola. In 1990, she received an honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Social Sciences at Uppsala University. Before that, Holmdahl had trained as a psychologist.

Her books include Boken om Henrik (1986), which describes the illness and death of her own son. Other books she has published include Tusen år i det svenska barnets historia (2000) and Sjuksköterskans historia (1994).

One of the many ways she educated her students was to take them on a tour of Uppsala and tell them about the medical institutions and poorhouses of the time. She also taught crisis management.

 

Burial site: 0101-0018

Image description: Barbro Holmdahl, year unknown. Photo: From private collectionThe image is cropped].
Click here for an uncropped image

 

 

Hildur Akselsson

1887-1944.

Private teacher for primary school children.

At the age of eight, Hildur Akselsson suffered from polio and, as a wheelchair user, she managed to get a good humanities education. She had no formal teacher training but had a talent for teaching children.

At the age of 19, she started a business in her parents' home at Villavägen 3 (Villa Tomtebo) that would become known as "Aunt Hildur's School" and a well-known institution in Uppsala for 37 years.

In 1913, the family moved to the corner house at Skolgatan 33 on western Strandgatan overlooking the river and "Magdeburg". Her pupils included Dag Hammarskjöld and Gunnar Weman. About Hammarskjöld, Hildur Akselsson mentioned that he had an easy time learning.

 

Burial site: 0131-1351

Image description: Hildur Akselsson, Uppsala 1901. Photo: Heinrich Osti / UUBThe image is cropped]
Click here for an uncropped image

 

 

Ester Bobeck

1889-1974.

Self-employed.

Ester Bobeck was known as "Uppsala's tobacco queen" and first started selling tobacco in 1908 at Östra Ågatan 27. It is noteworthy that Ester Bobeck did this at the age of 18. Bobeck married the officer Otto Bobeck in 1914.

She had a flair for business and ran the first shop alone, which became a meeting place for Uppsala students. Students came to Bobeck's shop to smoke cigars and talk.

Four years later, at Östra Ågatan 59 in "Sju helvetes gluggar", the second shop was opened and operated until 1935 when the building was demolished. The store was well located because Flustret, the Academic Hospital and the regiments at Polacksbacken were nearby. Uppsala harbor was also nearby. When the building was demolished, the tobacco shop was kept for a time in the so-called seventh window.

Ester Bobeck's (then Ericsson) first tobacco shop at Östra Ågatan 27 in Uppsala. Photo: From private collection.

"Sjunde gluggen" on Östra Ågatan 59 in Uppsala in 1936. Photo: Gunnar Sundgren / Upplandsmuseet.

In 1964, a tobacco shop was established on Fyris Square in Fenixhuset. Then Carl Perschel Barowiak's tobacco shop was taken over.

During his active years, stores were also opened at Dragarbrunnsgatan 26, Kungsängsgatan 8, Drottninggatan 8 and Skolgatan 8. Bobeck was also one of the first members of the Swedish Tobacconists' Association and was awarded the association's gold medal in 1964.

 

Burial site: 0102-0136

Image description: Ester Bobeck in a shop, year unknown. Photo: From private collectionThe image is cropped].
Click here for an uncropped image

 

 

Agnes Geijer

1898-1989.

Textile historian, teacher.

Agnes Geijer was born in October 1898 in an academic home in Uppsala. She later became a teacher of art and textile history at the School of Home Economics from 1921 to 1927 and an assistant professor at the National History Museum and the National Museum. She was also the leading researcher of her time in Nordic textile history.

She was head of Pieta's conservation department from 1930 to 1949 and head of the Swedish National Heritage Board's textile department.

In 1938, Geijer defended his thesis on ancient textiles from the excavations at Björkö (Birka) and made a pioneering contribution to textile research. The textiles found at Birka were made of different materials and produced differently, sometimes using unknown techniques. Geijer's work with the Birka finds showed that Viking Age costumes could be reconstructed and that their origin could be determined.

Agnes Geijer published several works, such as Medeltida textilier av svensk tillverkning, Textila skatter i Uppsala domkyrka and Ur textilkonstens historia, which have been translated into English, giving her international recognition.

To strengthen Nordic textile research, she established the Agnes Geijer Foundation for Nordic Textile Research, which has been active since 1988.

Agnes Geijer on the right at a preserved Polish flag from the 17th century belonging to the Swedish National Trophy Collection. Photo: The Swedish National Trophy Collection 1959.

Agnes Geijer on the right at Pietas textile conservation. Photo: From the Swedish Journal 1942.

In 1936, a sensational find was made that provided unique insight into the Middle Ages. In a bog near Varberg, the "Bockstensmannen" was found, who died around 1350. Agnes Geijer took part in the study of the Bockstensmannen's remains and his well-preserved clothes.

 

Burial site: 0129-2152

Image description: Agnes Geijer 1945. Photo C. Holm / RiksantikvarieämbetetThe image is cropped]
Click here for an uncropped image

 

 

Eva Edling

1872-1964.

Artist, portrait painter.

Eva Edling studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts from 1900 to 1905 and also made study trips to Germany and Italy.

She was active in the association Svenska Konstnärinnor and participated in exhibitions with the association in Stockholm, Lund, Uppsala and Gothenburg.

Edling lived at Gropgränd 2, together with his mother and later alone.

Not far from Gropgränd, her brother Nils lived in the "Edlingska gården" bought by him at S:t Olofsgatan 2. A number of artists and writers have had their student residences there.

 

Burial site: 0121-1068

Image description: Self-portrait painted by Eva Edling in 1902. Photo: From private collectionThe image is cropped].
Click here for an uncropped image