Mai Hinge Raud-Pähn (born 2 November 1920) is an Estonian-Swedish

art historian Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

, editor, and journalist. She was the editor-in-chief of the Swedish-Estonian magazine ' from 1987 to 2014. Raud-Pähn was honoured with the

Order of the White Star The Order of the White Star ( et, Valgetähe teenetemärk; french: Ordre de l'Etoile Blanche) was instituted in 1936. The Order of the White Star is bestowed on Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic ...

from the

President of Estonia The president of the Republic of Estonia ( et, Eesti Vabariigi President) is the head of state of the Republic of Estonia. The current president is Alar Karis, elected by Parliament on 31 August 2021, replacing Kersti Kaljulaid. Estonia is ...

for her significant contributions to history and art. She turned 100 in 2020.

Life

Mai Hinge Raud-Pähn was born on 2 November 1920 in

Pärnu Pärnu () is the fourth largest city in Estonia. Situated in southwest Estonia, Pärnu is located south of the Estonian capital, Tallinn, and west of Estonia's second largest city, Tartu. The city sits off the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet o ...

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

. Her father, Märt Raud (1881–1980), was a writer and school counselor, and her mother, Anna Raud, was one of the first female teachers in Estonia. In 1928, she attended the Viljandi Eesti Haridusseltsi Tütarlaste Gümnaasiumi Algkoolis school, and from 1934 to 1937, she was a student of the Pärnu Flickgymnasium. After graduating from the Stockholm School of Applied Arts, she worked as a teacher 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 ...

and

Visby Visby () is an urban area in Sweden and the seat of Gotland Municipality in Gotland County on the island of Gotland with 24,330 inhabitants . Visby is also the episcopal see for the Diocese of Visby. The Hanseatic city of Visby is arguably th ...

. In 1940, the family was forced to move to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. They subsequently returned to Sweden via

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

. From 1957 to 1964, Raud-Pähn was a student of

art history Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

Stockholm University Stockholm University ( sv, Stockholms universitet) is a public research university in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as a college in 1878, with university status since 1960. With over 33,000 students at four different faculties: law, humanities, so ...

, where she was taught by historian . She also undertook

archeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

and

ethnography Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...

courses. In 1972, she earned a licentiate degree from the university, with the thesis on a silversmith in Tallinn during the period 1474–1659. From 1987 to 2014, Raud-Pähn was the editor-in-chief of the Swedish-Estonian magazine '. For several years, she was member of the (Swedish Association of Estonians – REL) and the Estonian National Museum's Friends' Association. She has contributed to several articles on art history, as well as language courses. A

centenarian A centenarian is a person who has reached the age of 100 years. Because life expectancies worldwide are below 100 years, the term is invariably associated with longevity. In 2012, the United Nations estimated that there were 316,600 living cente ...

, Raud-Pähn celebrated her 100th birthday in November 2020.

Awards and honours

Raud-Pähn was awarded the

, Medal Class from the

in 2001, and the Swedish National Association of Culture award in 2006, in recognition of her significant contributions to history and art.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raud-Pahn, Mai 1920 births 20th-century Swedish historians Historians of Europe Historians of Estonia Estonian emigrants to Sweden Estonian World War II refugees Recipients of the Order of the White Star, Medal Class People from Pärnu Swedish women historians Living people Estonian centenarians Women centenarians