Alfhild ''Valfrid'' Matilda Palmgren, as married Palmgren Munch-Petersen (3 June 1877 – 6 December 1967), was a Swedish educator, linguist, and politician. She reformed the Swedish library policy and introduced the public library system in Sweden and Denmark.
Biography
Upbringing and education
Valfrid Palmgren was born in Stockholm, Sweden, on 3 June 1877, the second daughter of Karl Edvard A H Palmgren (1840–1910) and Ida Teresia Pohl (1853–1937), and was known as "Vava" at home. Her siblings were elder sister Signe Maria Elisabet (born 1875), Sigrid Hildegun Anna (1882–1883) and Gustaf (born 1884). She would have had another brother, but he had died by the time of her birth in 1886. Growing up, Valfrid and her sister Signe were treated as equal to all other children – regardless of gender – in accordance with their parents' educational ideas.
In 1882, Valfrid and Signe were enrolled in their father's school,
Palmgrenska samskolan
('Palmgren Coeducational School'), originally ('Practical Work School for Children and Youth'), in Stockholm, Sweden, was the first school in Scandinavia to offer coeducation up to the ''studentexamen''. It was also the first to offer sloyd, a ...
, which was the first school in Europe to offer co-education up to graduation, where they attended together until the twelfth year. Their father said morning prayers and taught Christianity, history and geography. Their aunt Ida taught writing and handicrafts (
sloyd
Sloyd (Swedish ), also known as educational sloyd, is a system of handicraft-based education started by Uno Cygnaeus in Finland in 1865. The system was further refined and promoted worldwide, and was taught in the United States until the early 2 ...
). Their mother was assistant headmistress and taught Swedish. The schoolchildren were also taught foreign languages – German, English and French – based on the modern method of starting from the spoken language. In 1895 Palmgren passed her oral and written examinations, with good grades in languages in particular. She was herself active there as a teacher from 1896 to 1907.
She spent summers with her family at Toivo on
Norra Lagnö (in the present-day municipality of
Värmdö), and later at
Ramlösa mineral spa when her father's health began to fail. Palmgren and her siblings also had the opportunity to make short and long educational trips in Europe: in 1893 she spent two months in Germany, and the following year in France and England for three and a half months with her sister. Such trips were made every year and year-and-a-half thereafter.
Palmgren enrolled 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 ...
in the spring semester of 1896, where she chose to study language. Parallel to her studies, she worked as a teacher at the Palmgrenska samskolan, teaching German, mathematics and geography, and later also French. In 1900, a government grant of SEK 750 enabled her to travel to England and study at
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
for six months.
In 1901 Palmgren graduated from Uppsala University with a Bachelor's degree in German, English, Romance languages, practical philosophy, mathematics and theoretical philosophy. Two years later she received her licentiate of philosophy in Romance languages and theoretical philosophy, followed by her doctorate in 1905. Her doctoral thesis was on the use of the infinitive by the French
Calvinist
Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...
and Baroque poet
Théodore Agrippa d'Aubigné () and was dedicated to her parents. In 1905, Palmgren was the third woman in Sweden to receive a doctorate in Romance languages, after
Anna Ahlström in 1899 and Gerda Östberg in 1903.
Royal Library
In 1903, Palmgren had contacted
Carl Snoilsky
Count Carl Johan Gustaf Snoilsky (8 September 1841 – 19 May 1903) was a Swedish lyric poet, known for his realist poetry.
Biography
Snoilsky was born in Stockholm to Sigrid (née Banér), a painter and countess, and Nils Snoilsky, a Justi ...
, head librarian at the
Royal Library (), but her request for employment was not granted. He advised her to take her doctorate first. Before she completed her doctoral thesis in May 1905, Palmgren approached Snoilsky's successor, head librarian ; he was significantly more positive and offered her a probationary position from September of that year as the first female librarian. The probationary position was converted on 24 November 1905 into a position as an additional regular librarian assistant in the printing department.
Palmgren remained there until February 1911, when she resigned at her own request to marry and move to Copenhagen.
KB's cafeteria, Kafé Valfrid, is named after her.
Study trip to the United States
In her work at the Royal Library, Palmgren often had to inform visitors hungry for knowledge that most of the library's books were not for home loan and refer them to public or workers' libraries. But she soon realized (after visiting the public libraries) that they did not have the literature she was looking for and were not intended for people who wanted to study. She then realized that she needed to travel to the pioneering United States. She applied for and was awarded a travel grant from the (, at that time responsible for education) to "study
library science
Library science (often termed library studies, bibliothecography, and library economy) is an interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary field that applies the practices, perspectives, and tools of management, information technology, education, and ...
with special reference to
seminary
A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...
,
school
A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...
and public libraries".
She arrived in New York in September 1907, with a letter of introduction in English, German and French from the Ecclesiastical Department, and was received by the famous children's librarian
Anne Carroll Moore
Anne Carroll Moore (July 12, 1871 – January 20, 1961) was an American educator, writer and advocate for children's libraries.
She was named Annie after an aunt, and officially changed her name to Anne in her fifties, to avoid confusion with Ann ...
at the
New York Public Library
The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress ...
. She and Palmgren became good friends and kept in touch until Moore's death in 1961. They were both passionate about the educational role of libraries and saw themselves as pioneers and drivers in providing quality children's books to all children through good children's libraries. Palmgren referred to Moore as an inspiration.
Palmgren visited some thirty cities in nine states in the northeastern United States during her three-month trip, where she studied public libraries,
research libraries
A research library is a library which contains an in-depth collection of material on one or several subjects.(Young, 1983; p. 188) A research library will generally include an in-depth selection of materials on a particular topic or set of to ...
,
library schools Education for librarianship, including for paraprofessional library workers, varies around the world, and has changed over time. In recent decades, many institutions offering librarianship education have changed their names to reflect the shift from ...
, seminaries and regular public schools. She gave lectures on Swedish libraries, and her visits were frequently covered in the press. Palmgren was even invited to the White House by President
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
when she visited Washington.
When Palmgren returned to Sweden at the end of December, she immediately started giving lectures and courses to disseminate what she had learned during her study trip. She wrote a very brief official travelogue, which she then expanded considerably in her detailed report ('Library and Public Education – Notes from a Study Tour in the United States of America'). This was finally published in 1909.
Hugo Hammarskjöld
Åke ''Hugo'' Hammarskjöld (20 January 1845 in Tuna, Kalmar county – 3 June 1937 in Tuna), was a Swedish public servant and politician, brother to Carl Hammarskjöld and cousin of Carl Gustaf Hammarskjöld and Hjalmar Hammarskjöld.
His pa ...
, the Ecclesiastical Department Minister (
education minister), had read her account and wanted it to be distributed to all libraries and public schools, so of the 3,000 copies, the Ecclesiastical Department bought 1,200 for that purpose.
Palmgren's report was a detailed and enthusiastic account, intended both as a textbook, to convince readers of the necessity of libraries in a modern society, and to inspire a reorganization of the Swedish library system based on the good examples she had studied in the United States. She pointed out the differences from Swedish libraries, which were usually supported by fees from patrons or voluntary donations from better-off members of society. This made them a kind of charitable institution, whereas in the US municipalities accepted donations in the form of library buildings or book collections; however, the material came from the local population, so that they owned their libraries just as they owned their schools. American libraries – both academic and public – catered to all walks of life and all ages; they were thus intended for all members of society without distinction. The beautiful and well-equipped library rooms with their open shelves were inviting, had generous opening hours and
catalogs that were easy to use.
Palmgren pointed out that an important prerequisite for the success of American libraries was the formation of the national
American Library Association
The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...
(ALA) in 1876, regional library associations and the ''
Library Journal
''Library Journal'' is an American trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey. It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional prac ...
''. Through association work, meetings and journal articles, librarians had collectively succeeded in arousing the interest of decision-makers and in gaining both organizational and financial support for their activities – and it was precisely these ideas and methods that Palmgren took home with her and put into practice or helped to put into practice in Sweden. This happened through the Stockholm Children's and Youth Library, which was opened in 1911 with financial contributions from wealthy Stockholmers, the formation of the Swedish Public Library Association in 1915 (from 2000 the ) and the launch of ' in 1916.
Library researcher and election to the city council
In 1909, the published Palmgren's "" in its series of small publications. This was a popular version of her travel report "" ('Libraries and Public Education'), and it was aimed at politicians and other decision-makers, association members, teachers and others who needed to be convinced of the benefits of books and libraries. The popular version devoted considerably more space to children's libraries than the original report. Her book was translated into Finnish and Danish and helped to stimulate the establishment of modern public libraries in the other Nordic countries.
At the end of the year, she became a member of the Committee for the Promotion of Good and Affordable Reading, and on behalf of the American Library Association she compiled the "Selected list of Swedish books recommended for public libraries", with a selection of non-fiction and fiction for children and adults in Swedish. In December 1909, Palmgren was appointed sole investigator of the "library question".
In February 1910 she published another publication, 'On Popular Education', in which she described library conditions in Germany after a short study trip to Dortmund in October of the previous year. In it, she emphasized the ambitions of the German public educators and that, unlike in Sweden, there was a great deal of support for public education in broad circles in Germany – even among businessmen and industrialists – as well as a consensus to leave politics and religion out of it.
In the municipal elections of March 1910, Palmgren was elected as the second woman to the Stockholm City Council () – the first was
Social Democrat
Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...
Gertrud Månsson
Gertrud Carolina Månsson (18 December 1866 – 30 December 1935), was a Swedish municipal politician (Social democrat). She was the first female member in the Stockholm City Council, and also the first elected female politician of her country a ...
– for the
General Electoral League.
On 1 April of the same year, she took her seat on the city council, and on 20 June she gave a highly publicized and discussed speech on the "library issue".
She was also a member of the Committee on State Aid to Institutions for Popular Scientific Lectures, which submitted its report in January 1911. She was also a member of the Central Library Committee and of the board of the
National Association for Women's Suffrage (, FKPR), while participating in the preparations for the opening of the Stockholm Children's and Youth Library. She attended the board meeting of the Stockholm Children's and Youth Library Association on 27 April 1911, three days before her wedding, after which she moved with her husband (1873–1939) to Copenhagen. However, as she still had several important tasks to complete in Stockholm, she commuted between the cities for the rest of the year and into the following year.
During the Conservative government of Prime Minister
Arvid Lindman
Salomon Arvid Achates Lindman (19 September 1862 – 9 December 1936) was a Swedish rear admiral, industrialist and conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1906 to 1911 and again from 1928 to 1930.
He was also th ...
, she was asked to write a report proposing a new policy on libraries based on her international expertise and on the idea of popular enlightenment. On 28 September 1911, she submitted her library report "" 'Proposals concerning the measures that should be taken by the state to promote the public library system in Sweden' to the Ecclesiastical Department Minister, . The main proposals were that the use of public libraries should be free of charge and that support could be given to all school libraries, to a municipal library or library system in each municipality, and to nationwide associations with at least 20,000 members for library activities in study circles. She worked for reforms in the policy of the Swedish libraries, demanding that public libraries be open to all, that there be a public library accessible in each city, and that the libraries be free from political, commercial and religious
censorship
Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...
.
In October, Palmgren Munch-Petersen conducted a course in library technology for staff working at the future children's and youth library on Drottninggatan, which opened in December of the same year. In November 1911, she was appointed as an expert in the Committee on State Support for Public Libraries.
On 12 April 1912, the new Minister of Education,
Fridtjuv Berg
Johan Fridtjuv Berg (20 March 1851 – 29 February 1916) was a Swedish school teacher, author, and politician (liberal); he was Minister of Education from 1905 to 1906 and 1911 to 1914 and Member of Parliament from 1891 to 1916. Berg was the so ...
, presented a bill that in principle followed Palmgren Munch-Petersen's proposals for a library inquiry. However, a deviation was made regarding the name issue, where the collective term for parish libraries, municipal libraries and association libraries became "public libraries" and not "municipal libraries"; the latter had been proposed by the expert group and Palmgren Munch-Petersen. On 23 September of the same year, the
Riksdag
The Riksdag (, ; also sv, riksdagen or ''Sveriges riksdag'' ) is the legislature and the supreme decision-making body of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral legislature with 349 members (), elected proportionally and se ...
passed a resolution "concerning support for the public library system" without debate.
Marriage and family life
Palmgren was almost 34 when she married Jon Julius Munch-Petersen in 1911, a
hydraulic engineer
Hydraulic engineering as a sub-discipline of civil engineering is concerned with the flow and conveyance of fluids, principally water and sewage. One feature of these systems is the extensive use of gravity as the motive force to cause the mov ...
and lecturer at the
Technical University of Denmark
The Technical University of Denmark ( da, Danmarks Tekniske Universitet), often simply referred to as DTU, is a polytechnic university and school of engineering. It was founded in 1829 at the initiative of Hans Christian Ørsted as Denmark's fi ...
, whom she had met in the early 1900s during their family's summer stays at Ramlösa
mineral spa
Mineral spas are destination spa, spa resorts developed around naturally occurring mineral springs. Like seaside resorts, they are mainly used recreationally although they also figured prominently in traditional medicine, prescientific medicine. ...
, south of Helsingborg. When she was officially invited by the
Copenhagen City Council
The Copenhagen City Council (Danish: ) is the municipal government of Copenhagen, Denmark, and has its seat at Copenhagen City Hall.
The city council is Copenhagen's highest political authority and sets the framework for the committees' tasks. ...
in her capacity as a member of the Stockholm City Council in September 1910, she and Munch-Petersen met again and became a couple. In a letter to author
Selma Lagerlöf
Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlöf (, , ; 20 November 1858 – 16 March 1940) was a Swedish author. She published her first novel, ''Gösta Berling's Saga'', at the age of 33. She was the first woman to win the 1909 Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Pr ...
, she describes her husband:
They became engaged later in the autumn in Copenhagen and celebrated their wedding in Stockholm on 30 April 1911. They then moved to Denmark, where she lived for the rest of her life, 56 years. She left seemingly everything behind: her family and friends, her professional life and politics. But she was not content to become a housewife, and quite immediately began to build up a new and extensive professional activity in her new home country, as soon as she had finished her commitments in Sweden, and she continued throughout the years to keep in touch with friends and colleagues in Sweden. She always used both surnames, Valfrid Palmgren Munch-Petersen, or with the titles Lektor Dr phil. Mrs. Valfrid Palmgren Munch-Petersen, and never just Valfrid Munch-Petersen because she was keen to emphasize her own identity and not to appear as an appendage of her husband.
Palmgren Munch-Petersen's beloved brother Gustaf Palmgren died only 27 years old on 17 May 1911 after a period of illness, and when Valfrid and Jon Julius Munch-Petersen's first son was born on 18 February 1912, he was named Gustaf. In July 1913 their second son was born, named after Jon's brother Harald, who had died in a mountaineering accident in the French Alps in 1904. A third son, Finn, was born in September 1915, and a fourth son, Jon (called Lill-Jon), was born in July 1919.
Palmgren Munch-Petersen made it her task in her new home country to work for the
Swedish language
Swedish ( ) is a North Germanic language spoken predominantly in Sweden and in parts of Finland. It has at least 10 million native speakers, the fourth most spoken Germanic language and the first among any other of its type in the Nordic countr ...
,
literature
Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...
and
culture
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...
, in addition to her growing family. She taught at the teachers' training college and the
University of Copenhagen
The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...
, served as a member of the board for the Copenhagen municipal library, was very active in the
Swedish Gustaf's Church lecture society, and also began work on Swedish-Danish dictionaries.
Her husband gradually began to lose his hearing from the early 1920s and eventually became completely deaf. Palmgren then accompanied her husband to his conferences and meetings and wrote down everything that was said so that he could still follow the discussions. They were both committed members of
Foreningen Norden
Foreningen Norden (Norwegian and Danish), Föreningen Norden (Swedish), Norræna félagið (Icelandic), Norrøna Felagið (Faroese), Peqatigiiffik Nunat Avannarliit (Greenlandic) and Pohjola-Norden (Finnish), ''The Norden Associations'', sometimes ...
, where she was for a time an alternate member of the board.
In 1937, Palmgren Munch-Petersen's mother died. In September 1938, Valfrid and Jon Julius received the news that their son
Gustaf Munch-Petersen
Gustaf Munch-Petersen (February 18, 1912 – April 2, 1938) was a Danish writer and painter. He wrote surreal prose poems, considered groundbreaking in his time, which have inspired later writers.
Biography
Gustaf Munch-Petersen grew up in a r ...
had been reported missing in action in Spain, where he had participated on the government's side against
Franco
Franco may refer to:
Name
* Franco (name)
* Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975
* Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître"
Prefix
* Franco, a prefix used when ref ...
and the
Falangists. In February 1939, Jon Julius died after failing health for several years. Palmgren Munch-Petersen worked like a madman, writing to her friend Anna-Lenah Elgström-Collijn: "If I am given too much time to brood, I will not last."
Denmark was occupied by Germany in April 1940. Palmgren Munch-Petersen remained in Denmark and spoke on the radio about Swedish literature for attacking the occupying power, and was therefore threatened. This worried the Swedish ambassador, who provided her with a Swedish passport as a precaution (she had automatically become a Danish citizen through her marriage to Jon Julius Munch-Petersen in 1911).
Sons
Her son Gustaf Munch-Petersen had had difficulty finding the right path in life. He had studied philosophy and psychology at the University of Copenhagen and art history at
Lund University
, motto = Ad utrumque
, mottoeng = Prepared for both
, established =
, type = Public research university
, budget = SEK 9 billion [surrealist art
Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to ...]
in Copenhagen, and later also in Oslo. Gustaf married
Bornholm
Bornholm () is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea, to the east of the rest of Denmark, south of Sweden, northeast of Germany and north of Poland.
Strategically located, Bornholm has been fought over for centuries. It has usually been ruled by ...
ceramicist in 1936, and in September their first daughter, Mette, was born. They were expecting their second child in December 1937, when Gustaf suddenly left as early as November to join the
International Brigades
The International Brigades ( es, Brigadas Internacionales) were military units set up by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The organization existed f ...
fighting Franco's
fascists
Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and th ...
in Spain. He did not tell his pregnant wife where he was going, but had only confided in his mother. Palmgren Munch-Petersen's relationship with Lisbeth and her grandchildren Mette and
Ursula Munch-Petersen
Ursula Munch-Petersen (born 29 December 1937) is a Danish ceramist.
Biography
Born in Rønne on the island of Bornholm, Ursula Munch-Petersen is the daughter of Gustaf and Lisbeth Munch-Petersen, both of whom were also ceramists and potters. She ...
became very conflict-ridden after Gustaf's death, especially since a death certificate was needed for Gustaf in order for Lisbeth to remarry
Paul Høm, who already had three children, and who then had three more children with Lisbeth, so they had a total of eight children to support. Granddaughter Ursula, who like her sister Mette periodically lived with Palmgren Munch-Petersen, thought during her childhood that her grandmother should have helped them financially, and only much later, when both her grandmother and mother were away, did she learn that her grandmother had sent money to her mother every month for the care of the grandchildren.
Her son Finn Munch-Petersen graduated with a bachelor's degree in political science and then participated in international
relief work
Humanitarian aid is material and logistic assistance to people who need help. It is usually short-term help until the long-term help by the government and other institutions replaces it. Among the people in need are the homeless, refugees, and ...
after
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 ...
. He worked both in New York and Jerusalem, a very troubled area in 1948, which worried Palmgren Munch-Petersen. Finn's son, Nils Finn, lived with Palmgren Munch-Petersen while his parents worked separately and were in the process of getting divorced.
Her son Jon Munch-Petersen became a civil engineer and a researcher in chemistry. His wife was also a scientist, and they had children Sten and Christine, who lived with their grandmother from time to time, especially when Lill-Jon was ill with polio.
Palmgren Munch-Petersen became pessimistic in her old age, doubting that she had done the right thing by working so hard. In a letter to Lisbeth Wesche, she writes that she had no faith left and felt she had wasted 28 years of her life on one pointless useless thing – the large dictionary. And when Lisbeth had told her about a trip to Verona with her children, Palmgren Munch-Petersen asked herself "Why didn't I make such trips with my children instead of hanging over the stupid dictionary!" Palmgren Munch-Petersen constantly missed Sweden during all her years in Denmark:
Lecturer and educator in Denmark
In Denmark, Palmgren Munch-Petersen continued her work on library and women's issues. She was a member of the board of the Copenhagen Municipal Library from 1918 to 1936, and the minutes of the board show that she shared her experience of working on library issues in Stockholm. As early as 1914, she became a member of the board of the
Danish Women's Society
The Danish Women's Society or DWS ( da, Dansk Kvindesamfund) is Denmark's oldest women's rights organization. It was founded in 1871 by activist Matilde Bajer and her husband Fredrik Bajer; Fredrik was a Member of Parliament and the 1908 Nobel Peac ...
, a nonpartisan women's organization that fought for Danish women's right to vote and to education and paid employment. Danish women were given the right to vote in the
Folketing
The Folketing ( da, Folketinget, ; ), also known as the Parliament of Denmark or the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral national legislature (parliament) of the Kingdom of Denmark—Denmark proper together with the Faroe Islands ...
in 1915.
Palmgren Munch-Petersen also began teaching at the in 1914, and continued to do so for 45 years, until 1959. She had one to three courses a year, plus two-week courses in the summers. She discovered how little Danes and Swedes knew about each other and how skewed the image of Swedes was in the Danish press. She was particularly interested in how textbooks portrayed Sweden and the Swedes.
In 1916, Palmgren Munch-Petersen contacted , a professor of Nordic languages at the University of Copenhagen, and offered to teach Swedish language and literature, initially without pay. Her offer was accepted and Palmgren Munch-Petersen became the first woman to be employed at the university, giving her first lecture in April of that year. Two years later, she was given a permanent position as a lecturer in Swedish, becoming the second lecturer in Swedish at a foreign university and the first woman to do so. Her lectures were highly appreciated by both students and the public, who attended her open lectures in their hundreds. She remained a lecturer in Swedish until 1949, when she was 71 years old.
Through the Danish radio station Statsradiofonien, today the
Danish Broadcasting Corporation
DR (), officially the Danish Broadcasting Corporation in English, is a Danish public-service radio and television broadcasting company. Founded in 1925 as a public-service organization, it is Denmark's oldest and largest electronic media enterp ...
, Palmgren Munch-Petersen was offered a further arena for her lecturing activities. On 17 November 1926, she gave her first radio lecture, which was on Swedish workers' poetry. She continued with radio lectures for 28 years, until 1954, first twice, then once a week, and the last year every two weeks. They were of varying lengths and at varying times, and under the heading ''Swedish'', where she was able to address whatever she wanted and received a great response from listeners. Together with Ellen Hartmann, she published three books entitled ('Swedish – booklet for radio education') with excerpts from the texts of Swedish authors. The two also worked together on Swedish school radio, publishing the textbooks and .
During the German occupation of Denmark, she used her radio lectures to encourage the Danish people. She read
Strindberg's tale of the swallow singing to the prisoners, recited Swedish freedom poems, recited "" (""),
Tegnér's "" ("") and
Fröding's "Ur Anabasis". And she explained Swedish words that had been mentioned on Swedish radio, which many Danes listened to, even though the German censors had forbidden it. Towards the end of the war, the German occupying forces were so annoyed by her radio lectures that the
Danish Freedom Council
The Danish Freedom Council ( da, Danmarks Frihedsråd) was a clandestine body set up in September 1943 in response to growing political turmoil surrounding the occupation of Denmark by German forces during the Second World War.
Background
Techni ...
ordered her to go into hiding. So in September 1944, her good friend and doctor Harald Abrahamsen admitted her as Mrs Poulsen to
Bispebjerg Hospital
Bispebjerg Hospital is one of the hospitals in the Capital Region of Denmark. Along with a number of other hospitals and the University of Copenhagen (the Faculty of Health Sciences), Bispebjerg Hospital forms part of the Copenhagen University Hos ...
, where she was kept in hiding for eight months.
Commitment to the Nordic countries, peace and women's issues
In 1919, Denmark, Norway and Sweden founded the Nordic Association to deepen the sense of belonging between the Nordic peoples, broaden their cultural and economic ties and promote mutual cooperation. Finland and Iceland joined several years later. The Danish Women's Society, in which Palmgren Munch-Petersen was active, was also a driving force in these efforts to increase cooperation between the Nordic countries. In May 1943, at the Danish Women's Society district meeting, she spoke about the women's cause and Nordic cooperation and stated that "there is no cause – except war and violence – that is not a women's cause." The issue of peace was important to her even before she moved to Denmark and became even more important after the Second World War. In 1948, she was one of the founders of the , (, DDK), which was a peace organization within the framework of the
Women's International Democratic Federation
Women's International Democratic Federation (WIDF) is an international organization with the stated goal of working for women's rights. It was established in 1945 and was most active during the Cold War. It initially focussed on anti-fascism, worl ...
, had consultative status at the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
and was the only international women's organization recognized by the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
. Until 1957, Palmgren Munch-Petersen was also active in the (), a dormitory for female university students founded in 1932, where two of her daughters-in-law had lived during their student days.
Contact with Sweden and later years
Throughout her years in Denmark, Palmgren Munch-Petersen kept in touch with Sweden, where her mother lived until 1937, and her sister Signe and her family lived in Stockholm. She was a frequent lecturer in Sweden as well, and every year at Christmas time she visited Malmö's Children's and Youth Library, which she had helped to found in connection with the
Baltic Exhibition
The Baltic Exhibition was held in Malmö, Sweden from 15 May to 4 October 1914. (The official closing date, September 30, was later extended by four days, as permitted in the general rules.)
A Swedish world's fair
The event showcased the industry, ...
in Malmö in 1914. Almost every year she attended the annual meeting of the Stockholm Children's and Youth Library or some other board meeting. She took part in the festivities at the opening of
Stockholm City Hall
Stockholm City Hall ( sv, Stockholms stadshus, ''Stadshuset'' locally) is the seat of Stockholm Municipality in Stockholm, Sweden. It stands on the eastern tip of Kungsholmen island, next to Riddarfjärden's northern shore and facing the islands ...
on Midsummer's Eve 1923, and was one of the guests of honour at the opening of the
Stockholm City Library
Stockholm Public Library (Swedish: ''Stockholms stadsbibliotek'' or ''Stadsbiblioteket'') is a library building in Stockholm, Sweden, designed by Swedish architect Gunnar Asplund, and one of the city's most notable structures. The name is today u ...
on 31 March 1928. She was the keynote speaker at the 50th anniversary celebration of the Stockholm Children's and Youth Library on 4 December 1961. She gave a nostalgic and emotional speech, talked about his years at the children's library, and under the direction of
Elsa Olenius
Elsa Viktoria Olenius (September 30, 1896 – August 25, 1984) was a Swedish librarian and writer, best remembered for pioneering children's library activities and theatre with children. She was awarded a in 1981.
In the 1940s, she founded ('th ...
the theatre children performed scenes from . She was appointed an honorary member of the Swedish Public Library Association at the great sixth Nordic Library Meeting in Uppsala in June 1950, where she gave one of her much-appreciated speeches:
On 31 May 1955, Palmgren Munch-Petersen was awarded a
jubilee doctorate at Uppsala University to mark the fiftieth anniversary of her doctorate.
Palmgren Munch-Petersen also maintained contacts with the Royal Library of Sweden over the years. She handed over her archive in batches, gave lectures to the staff about her years there, and also to the in February 1959.
Palmgren Munch-Petersen herself also contributed articles to Swedish newspapers and magazines, often on the themes of "lack of understanding between Danes and Swedes", "Swedishness", "
Scandinavianism
Scandinavism ( da, skandinavisme; no, skandinavisme; sv, skandinavism), also called Scandinavianism or pan-Scandinavianism,[Bing & Grøndahl
Bing & Grøndahl was a Danish porcelain manufacturer founded in 1853 by the sculptor Frederik Vilhelm Grøndahl and merchant brothers Meyer Hermann Bing and Jacob Herman Bing. The trademark backstamp for Bing & Grøndahl (B&G) porcelains is the t ...](_blank)
and the
Royal Porcelain Factory
Royal Copenhagen, officially the Royal Porcelain Factory ( da, Den Kongelige Porcelænsfabrik), is a Danish manufacturer of porcelain products and was founded in Copenhagen in 1775 under the protection of Danish Dowager Queen Juliane Marie. It is ...
.
Palmgren Munch-Petersen spent her last years in a nursing home in
Gentofte
Gentofte () is a district of Gentofte Municipality in the northern suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark. Major landmarks include Gentofte Town Hall, Gentofte Hospital and Gentofte Church. Gentofte Lake with surrounding parkland and nature reserves form ...
, Denmark, where she died on December 6, 1967, at the age of 90.
Honors
* 1924:
Litteris et artibus
Litteris et Artibus is a Swedish royal medal established in 1853 by Charles XV of Sweden, who was then crown prince. It is awarded to people who have made important contributions to culture, especially music, dramatic art and literature.
The ob ...
– a Swedish royal medal awarded for outstanding artistic achievements, including in literature.
* 1932:
Illis quorum
''Illis quorum'' (''Illis quorum meruere labores'') (English: "For Those Whose Labors Have Deserved It"), is a gold medal awarded for outstanding contributions to Swedish culture, science or society.
The award was introduced in 1784 by King Gust ...
– a medal awarded by the Swedish government for contributions to Swedish culture, science or society.
* 1954:
Dannebrogen – a Danish award, together with Ellen Hartmann
* 1955: Jubliee doctorate from the University of Uppsala
* 1959: The
Swedish Academy's Language Prize for "outstanding achievements in Swedish language research and language preservation".
References
Notes
Sources
*
Further reading
*
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Palmgren, Valfrid
1877 births
1967 deaths
Politicians from Stockholm
Uppsala University alumni
Swedish librarians
Swedish suffragists
Women librarians
20th-century Swedish women politicians
Local politicians in Sweden
19th-century Swedish educators
Academic staff of the University of Copenhagen
Swedish emigrants to Denmark
Swedish people of Jewish descent
Recipients of the Illis quorum
Litteris et Artibus recipients