Maj-Briht Bergström-Walan (17 November 1924 – 25 August 2014) was a Swedish

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and explanation, interpretatio ...

and

midwife A midwife (: midwives) is a health professional who cares for mothers and Infant, newborns around childbirth, a specialisation known as midwifery. The education and training for a midwife concentrates extensively on the care of women throughou ...

, as well as the first authorised

sexologist Sexology is the scientific study of human sexuality, including human sexual interests, behaviors, and functions. The term ''sexology'' does not generally refer to the non-scientific study of sexuality, such as social criticism. Sexologists app ...

in Sweden.

Education and career

Maj-Briht Bergström-Walan studied as a

in the mid-1940s and obtained her license in 1947. In 1963, she obtained her licentiate in philosophy with specialisation in

clinical psychology Clinical psychology is an integration of human science, behavioral science, theory, and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically-based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well ...

. She also held a

Master of Philosophy A Master of Philosophy (MPhil or PhM; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. The name of the degree is most often abbreviated MPhil (or, at times, as PhM in other countries). MPhil are awarded to postgraduate students after completing at leas ...

in the study of the

history of literature The history of literature is the historical development of writings in prose or poetry that attempt to provide entertainment or education to the reader, as well as the development of the literary techniques used in the communication of these pie ...

and

Nordic languages The North Germanic languages make up one of the three branches of the Germanic languages—a sub-family of the Indo-European languages—along with the West Germanic languages and the extinct East Germanic languages. The language group is also r ...

. She also trained as a missionary with the

Mission Covenant Church of Sweden The Mission Covenant Church of Sweden ( – until 2003 'Swedish Mission Covenant'), founded in 1878, was a Swedish evangelical free church in the Radical Pietist tradition. It was the second-largest Protestant denomination in Sweden, after the ...

. Between 1958 and 1972, Bergström-Walan worked as a sex educator at the Stockholm School Board and at ''Skolöverstyrelsen'' (predecessor to the present-day

Swedish National Agency for Education The Swedish National Agency for Education (, commonly known as ''Skolverket'') is a Government agency in Sweden that oversees the Swedish public school system for children and adults. Formed in 1991, The Swedish National Agency for Education is ...

). In the 1960s and the 1970s, she was the leading personality in

sex education Sex education, also known as sexual education, sexuality education or sex ed, is the instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, including human sexual anatomy, Human sexual activity, sexual activity, sexual reproduction, safe sex, birth ...

in Sweden. In 1970, Bergström-Walan founded the

Swedish Sexual Research Institute Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

which has among other things researched

transvestism Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothes traditionally or stereotypically associated with a different gender. From as early as pre-modern history, cross-dressing has been practiced in order to disguise, comfort, entertain, and express onesel ...

. Bergström-Walan has written several books; most notably ''Den svenska kvinnorapporten: kvinnor i Sverige berättar om sitt sexliv'' ("The Swedish women's report: women in Sweden talk about their sex life"; co-authored with Helle Høpfner Nielsen), ''Din bok om kärlek och sex'' ("Your book on love and sex") and ''Förbjudna drömmar'' ("Forbidden dreams"; co-authored with

Malena Ivarsson Malena may refer to: People Professional name * Maléna (singer) (born 2007), Armenian singer Given name *Malena Ernman (born 1970), Swedish opera singer * Malena Alterio (born 1974), Argentine-born Spanish actress * Malena Josephsen (born 1977) ...

( sv)) She has also written columns in

Expressen (''The Express'') is one of two nationwide evening newspapers in Sweden. Describing itself as independent liberal, was founded in 1944; its symbol is a wasp and its slogans are "it stings" or " to your rescue". The newspaper awards the cultu ...

Kamratposten ''Kamratposten'', also styled as ''KP'', (Swedish: ''The Friend-Post'') is a Swedish children's magazine published in Stockholm, Sweden. Founded in 1892, it is one of the earliest children's magazines in the country. History and profile The maga ...

Mitt Livs Novell Mitt may refer to: Gloves *Mitten, a garment covering the whole hand *Baseball mitt, a leather glove worn by baseball players on defense Arts and media * ''Mitt'' (film), a 2014 documentary film about Mitt Romney *The Mitt, a bronze sculpture of ...

( sv) and Private Magazine. On 31 May 1996, Bergström-Walan received an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

from the Faculty of Medicine at

Uppsala University Uppsala University (UU) () 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 operation. Initially fou ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

She received the 1997

Magnus Hirschfeld Medal The Magnus Hirschfeld Medal is awarded by the German Society for Social-Scientific Sexuality Research (DGSS) for outstanding service to sexual science, granted in the categories "Sexual Research" and "Sexual Reform". It is named in honour of Germa ...

Personal life

Bergström-Walan was married to

church historian Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception. Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritual side of th ...

Bror Walan Bror is a Scandinavian masculine given name which simply means 'brother'. The name has been found as early as in runestones in the form Brodhir. The name form Bror is known since the year 1536. It is also used heavily in a colloquial sense in the ci ...

( sv) between 1949 and 1972, and she has one son, Gustav (born 1952), from that marriage. She then started to

cohabit Cohabitation is an arrangement where people who are not legally married live together as a couple. They are often involved in a Romance (love), romantic or Sexual intercourse, sexually intimate relationship on a long-term or permanent basis. ...

with the Danish-born psychologist Helle Høpfner Nielsen ( sv; 1929–2013) from 1976, and were then married from 2007 until the latter's death in 2013.

Filmography

* 1969 – '' Ur kärlekens språk'' * 1970 – ''

Mera ur kärlekens språk ''Mera ur kärlekens språk'' (aka ''More from the Language of Love'' and ''More about the Language of Love'', also released as ''Language of Love 2'') is a 1970 Sweden, Swedish sex educational film directed by Torgny Wickman. It is a sequel to the ...

'' * 1971 – '' Kärlekens XYZ'' * 2004 – ''

Kärlekens språk ''Kärlekens språk'' (or ''Kärlekens språk 2000'') is a 2004 Sweden, Swedish sex educational educational film, film directed by Anders Lennberg. The title is a reference to the 1969 sex educational film ''Language of Love, Ur kärlekens språk ...

References

External links

* * 1924 births 2014 deaths Sexologists Swedish health professionals Women sexologists Swedish psychologists Swedish women psychologists Health professionals from Stockholm {{Psychologist-stub

Education and career

Personal life

Filmography

References

Further reading

External links