Faina Jyrkilä (1917-2008) was the first female Finnish sociologist. She also was one of the first sociologists to study aging.

Biography

Faina Jyrkilä was born 1 September 1917 in

Sortavala Sortavala (russian: Сортавала; Finnish and krl, Sortavala; sv, Sordavala); till 1918 Serdobol (russian: Сердоболь) is a town in the Republic of Karelia, Russia, located at the northern tip of Lake Ladoga near the Finnish bord ...

, Finland, graduating from high school in 1941 and completing a social work degree in 1945. Between 1952 and 1953, Jyrkilä attended school at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

and

Harvard 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 higher le ...

. In 1960, she obtained the first Ph.D earned by a woman in sociology in Finland. She was the first Finnish female professor of sociology and began teaching at the

University of Jyväskylä The University of Jyväskylä ( fi, Jyväskylän yliopisto) is a research university in Jyväskylä, Finland. It has its origins in the first Finnish-speaking Teacher Training College (the so-called Teacher Seminary), founded in 1863. Ar ...

in 1964. Having studied in the US, she was one of the first Finnish scholars to publish in English. She was one of the first generation of scholars to study gerontology and served on the board of the International Association of Gerontology (IAG). Jyrkilä was a respected teacher and academic and an expert in her field. She retired in 1984. Jyrkilä died 28 January 2008.

Selected works

* "On the Cumulative Nature of Leisure Activities", ''Acta Sociologica'', Vol. 3 No. 4, pp 165–172 (1959) (in English) * "Conflict of Norms and the Behaviour of Recipients of Social Welfare Assistance in Finland", ''Sociologia Ruralis'', Vol. 1 No. 1 pp 35–42 (December 1960) (in English) * ''Society and adjustment to old age; a sociological study on the attitude of society and the adjustment of the aged'' Copenhagen: Munksgaard (1960) (in English) * ''Huoltoavunsaajan vieraantuminen sosiaalisesta ympäristöstään'' Tampere: Yhteiskunnallisen korkeakoulun tutkimuslaitos (1963) (in Finnish) * ''Ikä ja irtaantuminen vuorovaikutuksesta'' Tampere: Yhteiskunnallisen korkeakoulun tutkimuslaitos (1963) (in Finnish) * ''A mechanism of inactivity; a study on recipients of public assistance'' Helsinki, Distributor: Academic Bookstore (1965) (in English) * ''Tutkimusmuotoisen opetuksen merkityksestä sosiologiassa'' Jyväskylä (1970) (in Finnish) * ''Gerontologia, eri tiedonaloja yhdistävä tiede Jyväskylä'' (1971) (in Finnish) * ''The adjustment on the cold farm'' Jyväskylä: Jyväskylän yliopisto, sosiologian laitos (1973) (in English) * ''The developmental process associated with major adult roles, cultural and subcultural differences: a case study of Karelian immigrants'' Jyväskylä: Jyväskylän yliopisto, sosiologian laitos (1975) (in English) * ''Research in gerontology: Finnish and English summaries'' Jyväskylä: Dept., of Sociology, University of Jyväskylä (1981) (in English)

References

External links

WorldCat published works
1917 births 2008 deaths People from Sortavala 20th-century Finnish educators Finnish women educators 20th-century Finnish writers 20th-century Finnish women writers Gerontologists Columbia University alumni Harvard University alumni {{sociologist-stub