Björn Olof Lennartson Kurtén (19 November 1924 – 28 December 1988) was a Finnish

vertebrate Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () (chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, with c ...

paleontologist Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

, belonging to the Swedish-speaking minority of his country.

Early life and education

Kurtén was born in

Vaasa Vaasa (; sv, Vasa, , Sweden ), in the years 1855–1917 as Nikolainkaupunki ( sv, Nikolajstad; literally meaning "city of Nicholas),

Career

He was a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

in paleontology at the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku (in Swedish ''Åbo'') in 1640 as the ...

from 1972 up to his death in 1988. He also spent a year as lecturing guest professor at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

in 1971. In ''Not from the Apes'' (1971) Kurtén argued that man's development has been separate from the apes since the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

, and that man did not descend from anthropoids, but rather the reverse: He was also the author of a series of books about modern man's encounter with Neanderthals, such as ''

Dance of the Tiger ''Dance of the Tiger'' (Swedish: ''Den Svarta Tigern'') is a novel by Finnish palaeontologist Björn Kurtén, published in 1978 and English translation in 1980. It is a prehistoric novel dealing with the interaction between Neanderthals and C ...

'' (1978, 1980). When asked what

genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...

these works belonged in, Kurtén coined the term '' paleofiction'' to describe his oeuvre. The genre was popularized by

Jean M. Auel Jean Marie Auel (; ; born February 18, 1936) is an American writer who wrote the '' Earth's Children'' books, a series of novels set in prehistoric Europe that explores human activities during this time, and touches on the interactions of Cro-Mag ...

in her

Earth's Children ''Earth's Children'' is a series of epic historical fiction (or more precisely, prehistorical fiction) novels written by Jean M. Auel set circa 30,000 years before the present day. There are six novels in the series. Although Auel had previous ...

series of books. He received several awards for his books popularizing science, among others the

Kalinga Prize The Kalinga Prize for the Popularization of Science is an award given by UNESCO for exceptional skill in presenting scientific ideas to lay people. It was created in 1952, following a donation from Biju Patnaik, Founder President of the Kalinga ...

from

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

. In the 1980s, Kurtén also hosted a 6-part TV series about the

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...

, co-produced by several Scandinavian TV channels.

Partial bibliography

* ''Pleistocene Mammals of Europe'' (Transaction Publishers, 1968; Routledge, 2017) *''Istiden'' (''The Ice Age'') (Forum, 1969) *''Not from the Apes'' (Pantheon, 1971) *''The Age of Mammals'' (Columbia University Press, NY, 1973) *''The Cave Bear Story: Life and Death of a Vanished Animal'' (Columbia University Press, NY, 1976) *''Den svarta tigern'' (1978) (''

'', 1980) *''Pleistocene Mammals of North America'' (1980), with Elaine Anderson *''Mammutens rådare'' (1982) ('' Singletusk'') *''How to Deep-Freeze a Mammoth'' (1986) *''On Evolution and Fossil Mammals'' (Columbia University Press, 1988) *''De skuldlösa mördarna'' (1987) ('' The Innocent Assassins'', Columbia University Press, 1991) *''Before the Indians'', Columbia University Press, 1988, softbound, 8 1/2 by 11" Ad *''Our Earliest Ancestors'' (Columbia University Press, 1993), Kurtén also published some fifty scientific works, two of them in collaboration with the Spanish paleontologist Miquel Crusafont Pairó.

References

External links

* 1924 births 1988 deaths Finnish paleontologists Writers of fiction set in prehistoric times Swedish-speaking Finns 20th-century novelists Finnish expatriates in the United States Kalinga Prize recipients {{Europe-tv-bio-stub