Julie Elisabeth Backer (31 August 1890 – 31 December 1977) was a Norwegian statistician who was bureau chief for Norway's Central Bureau of Statistics 1936–1956 specializing in the study of mortality.

Biography

She was born in

Kristiania Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

as a daughter of architect

Herman Backer Herman Major Backer (October 30, 1856 – May 21, 1932) was a Norwegian architect. He is best known for having designed many luxury houses, grand public buildings, and business buildings, as well as hotels and churches. Backer was very productiv ...

(1856–1932) and Elisabeth Christiane née Boeck (1868–1958). After finishing her secondary education in 1909 she took the

cand.oecon. Candidatus oeconomices (male) or Candidata oeconomices (female), often abbreviated cand.oecon. is an academic degree in economics at Education in Denmark, Danish, Háskóli Íslands, Icelandic and Higher education in Norway, Norwegian universities ...

degree in 1912. She worked a few years as a calculator at the life insurance company

Gjensidige Gjensidige Forsikring ASA is a Norwegian insurance company. The company traces its roots back to 1816 when a fire mutual was founded as ''Land Gjensidige Brandkasse'' in what is today Innlandet county. Gjensidige demutualised and listed on the O ...

before being employed in

Statistics Norway Statistics Norway ( no, Statistisk sentralbyrå, abbreviated to ''SSB'') is the Norwegian statistics bureau. It was established in 1876. Relying on a staff of about 1,000, Statistics Norway publish about 1,000 new statistical releases every yea ...

in 1917. In 1920-1921 she studied at the

University of Montpellier The University of Montpellier (french: Université de Montpellier) is a public university, public research university located in Montpellier, in south-east of France. Established in 1220, the University of Montpellier is one of the oldest univ ...

, and in 1922 she worked at the L'Institut international de Commerce in Brussels. In 1929 she studied Medical Statistics at the League of Nations in Geneva. She served as bureau chief for Statistics Norway in 1936–1956, and later became a consultant in the research department there. In 1938 she took the dr.philos. degree with the thesis ''Dødeligheten blandt lungetuberkuløse'', on the mortality among

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

victims. Her principal interests and responsibilities lay in health and population statistics. She became head of her division in 1936 and served in that post until her retirement in 1956. After her retirement, she still continued her research and carried on publishing. Aukrust, Odd (1978). Julie E. Backer, 1890-1977. ''International Statistical Review / Revue Internationale De Statistique'' 46(3), 325-325. She was an elected member of the

International Statistical Institute The International Statistical Institute (ISI) is a professional association of statisticians. It was founded in 1885, although there had been international statistical congresses since 1853. The institute has about 4,000 elected members from gov ...

, the

International Union for the Scientific Study of Population International Union for the Scientific Study of Population is an international union for the study of human population Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exce ...

and a

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

expert panel on statistical classification of diseases.

Notable works

Backer was widely published, particularly concerning population statistics and medical-statistical topics. * (1947) ''Population Statistics and Population Registration in Norway. Part I. The Vital Statistics of Norway: an Historical Review'', Population Studies, 1(2), 212-226 * (1948) ''Population statistics and population registration in Norway. Part 2'', Population Studies, 2(3), 318-338 * (1961) ''Trend of Mortality and Causes of Death in Norway 1856-1955'' (Dødeligheten og dens årsaker i Norge. 1856–1955) * (1965) ''Marriages, Births and Migrations in Norway 1856-1960'' (Ekteskap, fødsler og vandringer i Norge 1856–1960) * (1967) ''Infant Mortality Problems in Norway'', Pediatrics, 41(5)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Backer, Julie E. 1890 births 1977 deaths Scientists from Oslo Norwegian statisticians Women statisticians Elected Members of the International Statistical Institute