Gurli Taube worked as a typist at the university library, became a librarian in 1944, head librarian in 1953 and head of the maps and plans department.
Taube published a number of historical works, such as Från gångna tiders Uppsala (1950) and Ett svunnet Uppsala (1966).
Gurli Taube was also responsible for the cultural history texts in Ett bildverk om Uppsala (1954).
Image description: Gurli Taube when Gabriela Mistral came to visit, Uppsala 1945. Photo: Uppsala-Bild / Upplandsmuseet. [The image is cropped] Click here for an uncropped image
Mathilde Wigert studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts 1896-1902 and studied in Paris 1903-1904. During her studies she met her husband, the artist Johan Österlund, and the couple moved to Uppsala in 1908.
Wigert early paintings were characterized by national romantic moods and later became more expressive and emotional. One group of motifs that increasingly characterized her later art was the church interiors, which were characterized by emotional tension.
Wigert painted, among other things, a suite of tombstones in Uppsala Cathedral, interiors from Rasbo Church and church interiors from Bro on Gotland.
Over the years, Mathilde Wigert suffered from serious mental health problems and was periodically hospitalized at Ulleråker Hospital. She also published books and became involved in improving the conditions of the mentally ill.
Mathilde Wigert at the easel. John Österlund and Lilly Wigert at the parasol. The picture was taken around 1905, Vaxholm. Photo: Unknown photographer / UUB. Provenance: Christina Backman.
Female students at the Academy of Fine Arts 1897-1898. Mathilde is seen standing on her knees at the front. The others in the photograph are T. Wrede, S. Sonntag, Eva Befve, K. Hult, G. Palm, Kjellberg and L. Lindberg. In the background a male artist model. Photo: Unknown photographer / UUB. Provenance: Christina Backman.
Image description: Mathilde Wigert at her easel ca 1900. Photo: Unknown photographer / UUB. Provenance: Christina Backman. [The image is cropped] Click here for an uncropped image
Helena Nyblom was one of the most prolific and popular fairy tale poets at the turn of the century.
She was born in Copenhagen in 1843, the daughter of Jørgen Roed and Emilia Amanda Kruse. Her father was a painter and professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen, and her mother had an interest in ancient art and literature. Helena Nyblom thus grew up in a home characterized by intellectuality and aesthetics.
She met her future husband in Rome and they moved to Uppsala, where their home soon became a gathering place for artistically minded people from all over the Nordic region.
Nyblom published a number of short stories and poetry collections, but her real literary breakthrough came in the late 1890s with her fairy tales.
Nyblom converted to Catholicism in 1895, which was both noticed and criticized in the media.
Helena Nyblom was an active debater in the women's movement and also a cultural writer for magazines such as Nordisk tidskrift, Ny svensk tidskrift, Ord och bild and Idun.
In 1922, the autobiographical work Mina levnadsminnen was published.
John Bauer's illustration from 1913, for Helena Nyblom's "The changelings" in "Among gnomes and trolls". Photo: Wikimedia commons.
Vershuset on Östra Ågatan 65 in Uppsala. The Nyblom family lived in the house from 1864 onwards. Photo: Arild Vågen / Wikimedia commons.
Housing inspector, municipal politician, physical education teacher.
After graduating from the Gymnastics Institute in Stockholm in 1893, Hildur Ottelin moved to Skolgatan 10 in Uppsala and lived there for a time with her brother. For several years she worked as a physical education teacher and physiotherapist at Lindska skolan and Anna Wikström's trade school for blind women.
In 1903, Ottelin invested in two farms at Stamgatan (today's Geijersgatan) 7 and 10 with the intention of renting out housing and settled herself in number 10. A year later, she bought land from vicar Otto Myrberg in Rickomberga, which was later sold cheaply to working-class families, and together they formed a housing association, Rickomberga Egna Hem, of which she was managing director from 1904 to 1923.
Later, Ottelin became a housing inspector under the Board of Health and in 1912 she became the first woman to become a member of the City Council when she was elected for the Social Democrats. Similarly, Ottelin also became the first woman in the county council chamber.
As a politician, she became known for her many controversial proposals and her involvement in housing and elderly issues. Hildur Ottelin continued to be involved in municipal affairs until her death.
Since 1950, a street in Uppsala, in the Rickomberga area, bears her name.
Anita Nathorst was active in the Christian student and high school movement and a friend of Karin Boye, who called her her 'spiritual mother'. Boye had a love for her, but it was an unrequited love.
Nathorst studied in Uppsala and became the first female theol.lic. in church history. Her collection of poems was published in 1926.
Nathorst was diagnosed with breast cancer at an early age and was treated by the doctor Iwan Bratt in Alingsås. They began a love affair in the mid-1930s. However, the love affair ended and Nathorst bought an apartment in Skåne. Until it was vacant, it was a difficult time for her in Bratt's home and Karin Boye acted as a support for her.
Anita Nathorst died in Malmö nursing home in the summer of 1941, just a few months after Karin Boye.
The following poem, written by Karin Boye, is called "Hur kan jag säga..." (How can I say...) and is included in the posthumously published collection De sju dödssynderna och andra efterlämnade dikter. The collection was published in 1941 and the poem is addressed to Anita.
How can I tell if your voice is beautiful.
I just know, that it penetrates me
and will make me tremble like a leaf
and tear me apart and blow me up.
What do I know about your skin and your limbs.
It just shakes me that they are yours,
so that for me there is no sleep and rest,
until they are mine.
Image description: Anita Nathorst, year unknown. Photo: Unknown photographer / From private collection [The image is cropped] Click here for an uncropped image
Ulla-Bella Fridh, whose full name was Anna Ulla-Britt Fridh-Gabrielsson, made her debut in 1947 as an ice princess in Gustav Wally's ice revue. She also played student theater at Södermanland-Nerikes nation and attended theater school at Gothenburg City Theater 1949-1952.
Together with Owe Törnqvist and Rune Ek, she appeared in summer revues and worked at Vasateatern in Stockholm with Karl-Gerhard in 1952-1954.
She also appeared in a number of TV programs and films and was employed at Uppsala City Theatre between 1964-1980.
Elsa Eschelsson was born in a wealthy home in Norrköping in 1861. After the death of her mother, five-year-old Elsa moved with her father to Stockholm.
Eschelsson was taught at home and learned Latin, among other things, entirely on her own. In 1882 she took her matriculation exam with high marks.
She continued her studies in Uppsala and later became the first female doctor and associate professor of law. However, she had to fight hard to obtain positions, not least as acting professor, as that position could not yet be granted to a woman.
She was involved in the establishment of the Association of Educated Women (1904), which campaigned for women's right to hold senior government posts.
The academic struggles took a toll on her strength and after a supposed overdose of sleeping pills, Elsa Eschelsson died on March 10, 1911.
The funeral in Uppsala Cathedral was officiated by Professor Einar Billing who spoke about "the injustice of this world".
After studying at Slöjdskolan and Konstakademin, Karin Arosenius traveled to Copenhagen, Rome and then to Paris, where she stayed at the same time as her husband Karin and Carl Larsson.
Karin Arosenius sculpted busts and statuettes with genre motifs such as "Fisherman's boy, who fell asleep from his fishing rod" in 1881 and "Bathing girl" in 1883, among others.
She exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1885, 1886 and 1888 and at the World's Fair in 1889.
Image description: Karin Arosenius, 1901. Photo: Unknown photographer, Swedish Portrait Gallery / Wikimedia Commons. [The image is cropped] Click here for an uncropped image
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.
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] Click here for an uncropped image
