Rosa Malmström, Asta Ekenvall and Eva Pineus

Rosa Astrid Tyra Malmström (1906–1995) was a Swedish

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

, schoolteacher and librarian. She is remembered in particular for her focus on

women's literature The academic discipline of women's writing is a discrete area of literary studies which is based on the notion that the experience of women, historically, has been shaped by their sex, and so women writers by definition are a group worthy of separ ...

while working at Gothenburg University Library from 1938 until her retirement. Recognising the discrimination suffered by women in the library classification system, together with the literary historian

Asta Ekenvall Asta Ekenvall (6 April 1913 – 12 December 2001) was a Swedish librarian, one of the founders of the Kvinnohistorisk arkiv (Women's History Archive) of the University of Gothenburg and a pioneer in research and philosophy of women's history. ...

and the

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

activist Eva Pineus, in 1958 she co-founded Kvinnohistorisk Arkiv, a foundation devoted to

women's studies Women's studies is an academic field that draws on feminist and interdisciplinary methods to place women's lives and experiences at the center of study, while examining social and cultural constructs of gender; systems of privilege and oppress ...

which in 1971 became known as Kvinnohistorisk Samlingarna (Women's Historical Collection), now

KvinnSam KvinnSam - National Resource Library for Gender Studies, formerly the Women's History Collections, is the Swedish National Resource Library for Gender Studies. The collections belong to Gothenburg University Library. History The Kvinnohistoriskt ...

. Malmström's significant contribution to Nordic biographical research was recognized by

Gothenburg University The University of Gothenburg ( sv, Göteborgs universitet) is a university in Sweden's second largest city, Gothenburg. Founded in 1891, the university is the third-oldest of the current Swedish universities and with 37,000 students and 6000 s ...

in 1987 when she was awarded the title of honorary professor. In 1994, the Swedish government promoted her to full professor.

Early life

Born in Regna,

Östergötland Östergötland (; English exonym: East Gothland) is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish) in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland and the Baltic Sea. In older English li ...

on 10 July 1906, Rosa Astrid Tyra Malmström was the daughter of Axel Malmström. After matriculating from school in

Vänersborg Vänersborg () is a locality and the seat of Vänersborg Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 23,882 inhabitants (out of a municipal total of 39,591) Until 1997 it was the capital of Älvsborg County, which was dissolved in 1998. Sin ...

in 1928, she attended Gothenburg College where she qualified as a teacher with a master's degree.

Career

After first teaching in a private school in Stockholm, she decided to change course and sought a position in Gothenburg's central library (later the university library). After serving her probation, she received a permanent post and was engaged there until she retired in 1971. Realizing that women's works were not acquired on the same basis as those written by men and that there was even discrimination in the library's classification system, she became increasingly interested in researching literature about women. As a result, she began to compile a biography of Swedish women as an alternative to the accepted ''Svensk historisk bibliografi'' (Swedish Historical Bibliography). In 1958 she published a bibliography of literature in Sweden on women clergy ''Kvinnliga präster: bibliografi över i Sverige tryckt litteratur''. Collaborating with

, who had experienced difficulty in finding works by women in bibliographies, Malström embarked on research into women's literature. Together with the women's rights activist Eva Pineus from the Fredrika-Bremer Foundation, in 1958 they established the foundation Kvinnohistoriskt Arkiv dedicated to women's studies. As the need for further work became more widely recognized, several women's associations attached to political parties jointly called for parliamentary support. As a result, a library post was established and the foundation transferred its holdings to Gothenburg University. It was there that facilities were made available for developing the women's literature collection Kvinnohistoriska Samlingarna, now known as KvinnSam. Rosa Malmström died in Gotherburg in 1995 and is buried in the city's Norra Cemetery.

Awards

Malmström's significant contribution to Nordic biographical research was recognized by Gothenburg University in 1987 when she was awarded the title of honorary professor. In 1994, the Swedish government promoted her to full professor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Malmstrom, Rosa 1906 births 1995 deaths Swedish librarians Swedish feminists Women librarians People from Finspång Municipality Academic staff of the University of Gothenburg Gender studies academics 20th-century Swedish writers 20th-century Swedish women writers Swedish non-fiction writers