Hilma Granqvist was a primary school teacher, a researcher of Palestine and the first Finnish female Doctor of Sociology. As a woman pioneer of sociological research, she suffered from many setbacks in her career. Although she gained international recognition early on in her career, her efforts were acknowledged only much later in Finland.
Hilma Natalia Granqvist
Born July 17, 1890, Sipoo. Died February 25, 1972, Helsinki
PhD (Sociology) 1932, Åbo Akademi University
BA (Social and Moral Philosophy) 1921, MA 1923, University of Helsinki
Freelance researcher
Ethnographic fieldwork in Palestine 1925–1931
Accolades:
Scandinavian Popular Science Literature Award 1939
Written by Tomas Sjöblom
Translated by Johanna Spoof
Photo: Wikimedia Commons / Åbo Akademi University photo archives
Born into a family of landowners in Sipoo, HilmaGranqvist graduated from secondary school as a primary school teacher in 1911. Soon she supplemented her studies at the Ekenäsfolkskoleseminarium school, after which she enrolled in the University in 1918.
As her main subject Granqvist studied social and moral philosophy under the…
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HilmaGranqvist’s career was full of setbacks, starting with her doctoral dissertation. Granqvist presented the idea for the topic of her doctoral thesis to the professor of sociology Gunnar Landtman at the University of Helsinki: marriage traditions in the Palestinian village of Artes.
Professor Landtman was not at all happy with…
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