Helge David Ljungberg (25 November 1904 – 24 November 1983) was a Swedish religious historian and Bishop of Stockholm from 1954 to 1971.

Early life and education

Ljungberg was born in

Enköping Enköping is a locality and the seat of Enköping Municipality, Uppsala County, Sweden with 30,000 inhabitants in 2018. Geography Enköping is situated near Lake Mälaren, about 78 km west of Stockholm. A comparably large number of Swedi ...

in Uppsala County,

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 ...

, the son of David Ljungberg, a priest, and Hilda Jansson."LJUNGBERG, HELGE D"
''Vem är Vem?'' Stor-Stockholm, 1962 ed. . Archived fro

on 1 November 2021. His sister was the politician Blenda Ljungberg. At

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in opera ...

he earned

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degrees in philosophy in 1926 and theology in 1928, and a doctorate in theology in 1938 with a dissertation on the

Christianisation of Scandinavia The Christianization of Scandinavia, as well as other Nordic countries and the Baltic countries, took place between the 8th and the 12th centuries. The realms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden established their own Archdioceses, responsible direct ...

Academic career

From 1938 to 1950, Ljungberg was a

docent The title of docent is conferred by some European universities to denote a specific academic appointment within a set structure of academic ranks at or below the full professor rank, similar to a British readership, a French " ''maître de conf ...

in the history and psychology of religion at Uppsala University. He was a scholar of Swedish pre-Christian religion and published several books on the subject, including in 1980 the popular work ''Röde Orm och Vite Krist'' (Red Serpent and White Christ). He became a member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences ( sv, Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien) is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special ...

in Uppsala in 1958.

Career in the church

In 1947 he became a vicar at

Oscar's Church Oscar's Church ( sv, Oscarskyrkan) is one of the major churches in Stockholm, Sweden. The three-aisled hall church, which holds 1,200 people, has an tower in the south-western part of the building. Oscar's Church is located in the south-eastern p ...

, and in 1950 pastor of

Engelbrekt Parish Engelbrekt Parish ( sv, Engelbrekts församling) is a parish in Östermalm's church district (''kontrakt'') in the Diocese of Stockholm, Sweden. The parish is located in Stockholm Municipality in Stockholm County. The parish forms its own pastor ...

, both in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

. He also served as a military chaplain. In 1954 he was appointed Bishop of Stockholm. In this capacity, in 1960, he ordained one of the first three woman priests in the

Church of Sweden The Church of Sweden ( sv, Svenska kyrkan) is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.6 million members at year end 2021, it is the largest Christian denomination in Sw ...

, Elisabeth Djurle. He edited the magazine ' from 1941 to 1951 and headed the organisation Pro Fide et Christianismo from 1974 to 1983.

Personal life and death

Ljungberg married Ruth Sterner in 1928; they had two sons and a daughter. He died on 24 November 1983 and was buried in the cemetery of ."Ljungberg, Helge David"
''Svenska Gravar'', retrieved 24 December 2021 .

Selected publications

* ''Den nordiska religionen och kristendomen'' (1938; doctoral dissertation) * ''Fornnordisk livsåskådning'' (1943) * ''Ansgar och Björke'' (1945) * ''Hur kristendomen kom till Sverige'' (1946) * ''Tor I'' (1947; first volume of a projected series on

Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred groves ...

and other thunder gods) * ''Herdabrev till Stockholms stift'' (1954; pastoral letters) * ''Röde Orm och Vite Krist'' (1980)

References

* '' Bra Böckers Lexikon'', 1977

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ljungberg, Helge 1904 births 1983 deaths Lutheran bishops of Stockholm 20th-century Lutheran bishops Uppsala University alumni Academic staff of Uppsala University Old Norse studies scholars