Interdisciplinary Co-operation and Strong Networks

Eeva Raevaara and Tuija Pulkkinen discussed the significance of Päivi Setälä’s career in a news story published on the University of Helsinki website in September 2014, on the eve of her memorial seminar.

“Setälä was a key figure in the development of Finnish Women’s Studies from the early 1980s on,” said Eeva Raevaara, a consulting official at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.

“She was actively involved in creating strong national networks and she had an uncanny vision for interdisciplinary co-operation.”

Päivi Setälä’s pioneering work involved the study of women in European history. She wrote about the women of Antiquity, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Tuija Pulkkinen, an Academy Professor, is in no doubts about Setälä’s impact on the field:

“As a professor at the Christina Institute, Setälä cleared a path for a variety of approaches to Women’s Studies. Women’s Studies were discussed by everyone from linguists and philosophers to medical scientists.”

The University of Helsinki, September 10, 2014: Päivi Setälä cleared a path for Women’s Studies (In Finnish)

By Written by Lauri Lönnström. Translated by Tomi Setälä. Revised by John Calton.

Päivi Setälä

Päivi Eeva Marjatta Setälä (née Priha)
Born January 20, 1943, Kuopio. Died March 3, 2014, Helsinki.

Master of Arts, 1968 and Doctor of Philosophy (General History), 1977, University of Helsinki
Honorary Doctor, University of Kuopio, 2005

Docent, General History, University of Helsinki and University of Tampere, 1978-2004
Professor of Women’s Studies, University of Helsinki, 1991-94
Board Member, Federation of Finnish Learned Societies, 1981-86
Research Council for Culture and Society, Academy of Finland, 1982-87
Director, Kristiina Institute, 1991-94
Project Leader, Academy of Finland, 1992-2001
Director, Finnish Institute in Rome, 1994-97
Chair, Finnish Institute in Rome Foundation, 1999-2005

Awards
State Award for Public Information, 1991
Warelius Prize, 1998
Finnish Church’s Cultural Award, 2003
J.V. Snellman Award, 2006
Commander of the Order of the White Rose of Finland, 2008
Knight of the Order of the Lion of Finland, first class, 2008

Photo: Eero Roine, HY.
Written by Lauri Lönnström
Translated by John Calton