Anna Rebecka Hofstad (7 April 1878 in Offersøy,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

– 12 October 1901 in Tornehamn, Sweden), known in history as Svarta Bjorn (Black Bear);

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

: Svarta Bjørn,

Swedish 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 ...

:Svarta Björn, was a Norwegian

cook Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (professional), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * ...

, active as a cantine cook for the

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

Navvy Navvy, a clipping of navigator ( UK) or navigational engineer ( US), is particularly applied to describe the manual labourers working on major civil engineering projects and occasionally (in North America) to refer to mechanical shovels and eart ...

workers during the construction of the

Iron Ore Line The Iron Ore Line ( sv, Malmbanan) is a long railway line between Riksgränsen and Boden in Norrbotten County, Sweden, owned by Trafikverket (the Swedish Transport Administration). The line also contains two branches, from Kiruna to Svappavaar ...

between Kiruna and Narvik in 1899-1901. She has been treated as a local

legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess ...

in the history of the area and became the object of fiction. She has been described as tall, dark, beautiful and intelligent. A reason for her fame may be the fact that during this period of settlement in the area, she was one of few women there, and was therefore idealized as an icon among the railway workers. According to the legend, she died during a fight with another railway cook, who broke her ribs and gave her a fatal blow to the head. She was taken to the infirmary in Tornehamn, where she died. At the time of her death, she was also to have suffered from

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, i ...

, which may also have contributed to her death. She was buried in the Tornehamn Navvy workers cemetery. The white cross on her grave does not mention her entire name, but only names her as "Anna". In 1979, a Swedish film was made about her: '' Legenden om Svarta Björn'' (''The Legend of Svarta Björn'') by

Ingvar Skogsberg Ingvar Skogsberg (born 16 January 1937) is a Swedish film director and screenwriter. Selected filmography * ''City of My Dreams ''City of My Dreams'' ( sv, Mina drömmars stad) is a 1960 novel by the Swedish writer Per Anders Fogelström. ...

Sources

Christiansen, Sverre (1987). ”Om Svarta Bjørn”. Årbok for Helgeland "1987(18),": sid. 35-40 : ill.. 0801-4221. ISSN 0801-4221. Libris 9421415 {{DEFAULTSORT:Bjorn, Svarta 1878 births 1901 deaths Norwegian chefs Women chefs Kiruna