Karl Thorsten Gunnar Andersson (29 February 1923 – 4 April 2018) was a Swedish

toponymist Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...

, and a former Professor of Linguistics at

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) 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 opera ...

Biography

Karl Thorsten Gunnar Andersson was born in

Ödeshög Municipality Ödeshög Municipality (''Ödeshögs kommun'') is a municipality in Östergötland County, Sweden. The seat is situated in the small town of Ödeshög. The coat of arms was created in 1972 at the time the modern municipalities of Sweden were crea ...

, Sweden on 29 February 1923. He was an associate professor of

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 ...

at the

University of Münster The University of Münster (german: Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, WWU) is a public university, public research university located in the city of Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. With more than 43,000 students and over ...

from 1957 to 1960. Andersson received his PhD from

in 1965, where he subsequently became a

docent The title of docent is conferred by some European universities to denote a specific academic appointment within a set structure of academic ranks at or below the full professor rank, similar to a British readership, a French " ''maître de conf ...

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 ...

. From 1971 to 1994, Andersson was Professor of Linguistics at Uppsala University. Andersson specialized in

toponymy Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...

. He was the publisher of '' Namn och bygd'' and co-publisher of '' Studia Anthroponymica Scandinavica''. He was the author of a large number of books and articles on Swedish

place name Place may refer to: Geography * Place (United States Census Bureau), defined as any concentration of population ** Census-designated place, a populated area lacking its own municipal government * "Place", a type of street or road name ** Often ...

s and personal names. Andersson was a member of the

Royal Society of the Humanities at Uppsala The Royal Society of the Humanities at Uppsala ( sv, Kungl. Humanistiska Vetenskaps-Samfundet i Uppsala) is a Swedish Royal academy for the study of the humanities. Founding The society was founded in 1889 by a donation from tannery factory owner ...

, the

Royal Gustavus Adolphus Academy The Royal Gustavus Adolphus Academy ( sv, Kungliga Gustav Adolfs Akademien) in Uppsala is one of 18 Swedish royal academies and dedicated to the study of Swedish folklore. The name is often expanded to ("...for Swedish Folk Culture"). The Academ ...

, the

Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters {{Infobox organization , name = The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters , full_name = , native_name = Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab , native_name_lang = , logo = Royal ...

, the

Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities The Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities also called simply the Royal Academy of Letters or Vitterhetsakademin abbreviated KVHAA ( sv, Kungl. Vitterhetsakademien Historie och Antikvitets Akademien or or ) is the Swedish royal ...

and the

Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters The Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters ( da, Det Kongelige Norske Videnskabers Selskab, DKNVS) is a Norwegian learned society based in Trondheim. It was founded in 1760 and is Norway's oldest scientific and scholarly institution. The s ...

. He died on 4 April 2018.

Selected works

* ''Svenska häradsnamn'', 1965 * ''Namn i Norden och det forna Europa'', 1989

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Andersson, Thorsten 1923 births 2018 deaths Germanic studies scholars Linguists from Sweden Linguists of Germanic languages Members of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters Members of the Royal Gustavus Adolphus Academy People from Ödeshög Municipality Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters Toponymists University of Münster faculty Uppsala University faculty