Emma Charlotte Stiasny Jacobsson (1883 in
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
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, timezone = CET
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– 1977) was an Austrian-born Swedish botanist, art historian, knitwear designer, and entrepreneur. She was a founder of the
Bohus Stickning knitting cooperative, and the executive director during its thirty years of operation.
Early life
Jacobsson was born into a Jewish family in
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
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, postal_code =
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,
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
. Her parents, Franz Clemens Stiasny and Anna Stiasny, were members of an intellectual community in Vienna that included
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies explained as originatin ...
. She earned a doctorate in botany in 1913;
her dissertation
Versuch einer histologisch-phylogenetischen Bearbeitung der Papilionaceae concerned the
phylogenetics
In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek language, Greek wikt:φυλή, φυλή/wikt:φῦλον, φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary his ...
of the flowering plant subfamily Faboideae or Papilionoideae. While studying in Berlin, she met
:sv:Malte Jacobsson, Malte Jacobsson, whom she married in 1912. They settled in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Although she did not continue with a career in botany, she published several academic papers on subjects relating to art history.
Career
From 1912 until 1950, Emma Jacobsson was married to
:sv:Malte Jacobsson, Malte Jacobsson, who became governor of the province of
Bohüslan,
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
in 1934. As wife of the governor of Bohüslan, Jacobsson used her position to provide community leadership and improve economic conditions in the province by establishing a cottage industry in 1939. It became known as
Bohus Stickning, a cooperative that attained international stature and was in operation until 1969 with Jacobsson as its executive director. Bohus Stickning provided economic support for knitters in Bohüslan and became known in Sweden and abroad. Jacobsson was herself a designer for Bohus Stickning, particularly during the cooperative's early years. Many of her designs were inspired by objects on display in museums, such as Peruvian textiles, decorative arts from China, and antique Swedish woven textiles with heraldic motifs. As director of Bohus Stickning, Emma Jacobsson participated in the design process by editing the submissions of other designers, suggesting alterations, and having final decision-making authority. She exhibited in Sweden and internationally, including the
Milan Triennale
The ''Milan Triennial'' (Triennale di Milano) is an art and design exhibition that takes place every three years at the Triennale di Milano Museum in Milan, Italy.
History
The exhibition was originally established in 1923 as a biennial architect ...
, in 1951, 1954, and 1960.
Emma Jacobsson’s vision for the company’s fashion brand and guidance led
Bohus Stickning to achieve international name recognition. An entrepreneur, Jacobsson forged commercial connections for the Bohus Stickning cooperative with
Nordiska Kompaniet
Nordiska Kompaniet (colloquially NK, and literally ''The Nordic Company'') is the name of two department stores located in Stockholm and Gothenburg, in Sweden.
The store in Stockholm receives some twelve million visitors annually, with the figur ...
in Stockholm and
Gillblads in
Gothenburg
Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...
, and working through an export trade distributor, sold products to department stores in the United States such as
Nieman Marcus. Notable clients included
Ingrid Bergman
Ingrid Bergman (29 August 191529 August 1982) was a Swedish actress who starred in a variety of European and American films, television movies, and plays.Obituary ''Variety'', 1 September 1982. With a career spanning five decades, she is often ...
and
Grace Kelly
Grace Patricia Kelly (November 12, 1929 – September 14, 1982) was an American actress who, after starring in several significant films in the early to mid-1950s, became Princess of Monaco by marrying Prince Rainier III in April 1956.
Kelly ...
.
She led the company for thirty years until it closed in 1969. Jacobsson died in 1977.
Notable Patterns Designed by Emma Jacobsson for Bohus Stickning
Bibliography
* "Emma Jacobsson Put Knitting Needles to Work: She Rescued a Province, Founded a Unique Industry" ''Eugene Register-Guard''. 7 Sept 1966, p. 13.
* Åmossa, Karin. ''Du är NK!: konstruktioner av yrkesidentiteter på varuhuset NK ur ett genus- och klassperspektiv 1918-1975''. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell International, 2004.
* Häglund, Ulla, and Ingrid Mesterton. ''Bohus stickning 1939-1969''. Göteborg: Föreningen Bohus Stickning, 1980.
* Häglund, Ulla. ''Bohus Stickning''. Bohuslän Museum, 1999.
* Hald, Arthur, and Sven Erik Skawonius. ''Contemporary Swedish design; a survey in pictures''. Stockholm: Nordisk Rotogravyr, 1951.
* Keele, Wendy. ''Poems of Color. Knitting in the Bohus Tradition''. Interweave Press 1995.
* Overland, Viveka. ''Bohus Stickning: på nytt. The Revival.'' Bohusläns museums förlag 2015.
References
Further reading
*
External links
Bohusläns Museum. Bohus Stickning, 1939-1969Röhsska Museum CollectionFinding Guide to the Bohus Stickning Archive in the Kvinn Samm, the National resource library for gender studies, Gothenburg University LibraryBohus Stickning Recreations by Pernille Silfverberg of AngoraGarnet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jacobsson, Emma
Swedish textile artists
People in knitting
1883 births
1977 deaths
Women textile artists
Artists from Vienna
Swedish Jews
20th-century Austrian botanists
Austrian women botanists
Swedish women botanists
Swedish fashion designers
Austrian fashion designers
Austrian women fashion designers
Women art historians
Swedish women fashion designers
Austrian women historians
Swedish women historians
Austrian emigrants to Sweden