The State Institute for Racial Biology (SIRB, sv, Statens institut för rasbiologi, SIFR) was a

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 ...

governmental research institute founded in 1922 with the stated purpose of studying

eugenics Eugenics ( ; ) is a fringe set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter human gene pools by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior o ...

and human

genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar wor ...

. It was the most prominent institution for the study of " racial science" in Sweden. It was located in

Uppsala Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat of Uppsala County and the fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Located north of the c ...

. In 1958, it was renamed to the State Institute for Human GeneticsAccording to the title page of the dissertation of ''A Contribution to the Physical Anthropology and Population Genetics of Sweden: Variations of the ABO, Rh, MN and P Blood Groups''. Hereditas (Lund), ; 45(1959) the name of the institute in 1959 was The State Institute for Human Genetics and not the Institute for Medical Genetics. (''Institutionen för medicinisk genetik'') and is today incorporated as a department of

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. The university rose to significance during ...

. The institute's first head was Herman Lundborg. He retired in 1935. He was succeeded by Gunnar Dahlberg. An early research priority was studying the commonness of the " Nordic" racial traits in the Swedish population and the alleged downsides of

race-mixing Miscegenation ( ) is the interbreeding of people who are considered to be members of different races. The word, now usually considered pejorative, is derived from a combination of the Latin terms ''miscere'' ("to mix") and ''genus'' ("race") ...

between the majority population and

Finns Finns or Finnish people ( fi, suomalaiset, ) are a Baltic Finnic ethnic group native to Finland. Finns are traditionally divided into smaller regional groups that span several countries adjacent to Finland, both those who are native to these ...

and the

Sámi people The Sámi ( ; also spelled Sami or Saami) are a Finno-Ugric-speaking people inhabiting the region of Sápmi (formerly known as Lapland), which today encompasses large northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and of the Murmansk Oblast, Ru ...

.Hagerman, M. A racial biologist in Laponia, in In the years 1936–1960, the majority of research projects at SIRB concerned medical genetics but racial science was still an important aspect of the institute.

History

After its founding in 1922, it continued under the leadership of Herman Lundborg. In 1926, studies conducted by the institute provided a basis for Lundborg's upper secondary school textbook ''Swedish Racial Studies''. However, Lundborg became increasingly anti-semitic which put him at odds with the Swedish Government during a time when tensions were growing between Sweden and Germany. In 1936, he was replaced by Gunnar Dahlberg. In 1959 it was integrated into Uppsala University, and is today the university's genetic center. The official assignment of the Swedish institute was to study the inhabitants of the country from a racial perspective. They studied the life conditions and environmental developments of different families. They tried to explain the effect biological heritage and the environment has on people. They also studied mental illnesses, alcoholism and criminality. Svenska sällskapet för rashygien (Swedish Society for Eugenics) was founded in 1909 and paved the way for SIRB. Its mission statement was to study

. ''Svenska sällskapet för rashygien'', and eugenics in general, did not gain ground until after World War I. In 1918 the society travelled around Sweden with an exhibit called “Folktyputställning” (''"Exhibition about types of people"''). The same year Frithiof Lennmalm, the headmaster of Karolinska Institutet proposed that the Nobel Foundation finance an institute for race biology. The Nobel committee for medicine voted unanimously in favour of the proposal. The staff of Karolinska Institutet voted against it with a very thin margin (9 against 8). Instead it was proposed that the Swedish state found and finance such an institute.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:State Institute for Racial Biology Research institutes in Sweden Organizations established in 1922 Scientific racism Racism in Sweden Eugenics organizations History of Uppsala 1922 establishments in Sweden