In memoriam Reimund Kvideland (1935-2006)

A very sad message has reached us: on the 6th of June 2006 Professor Reimund Kvideland passed away unexpectedly at the age of 71. Many of us will cherish a vivid memory of him actively participating in the previous ISFNR events, including the congress in Tartu.

Born in 1935, Kvideland studied Nordic Philology, History of Literature, and Folkloristics in Oslo, Frankfurt am Main, and Copenhagen. In 1966 he became a lecturer at the newly founded Chair of Folkloristics at the University of Bergen and soon rose to one of the innovators of the field. In 1971 he established Tradisjon, a periodical which quickly evolved into the most significant medium of modern Scandinavian folkloristics. From 1991 to 1997 Kvideland directed the Nordic Institute of Folklore (NIF) in Turku, Finland, dedicating himself to administrative matters as well as various NIF publications. His administrative and leadership skills were legendary, proven by the fact that he consecutively if not simultaneously held two of the most responsible and important positions in our field: he was the president of SIEF from 1987 to 1990 and the president of the ISFNR from 1989 to 1995. He was also a member of the Folklore Fellows and associated with the Alfred Toepfer Stiftung in Germany. For many years he contributed to the International Folklore Bibliography, Nordische Bibliographie für Ethnologie und Folkloristik as well various journals and periodicals both in Europe and Asia. In 1998 he was awarded a Professor’s title.

The scope of Reimund Kvideland’s scholarly interests was impressively wide. In the field of folk song research he made a name for himself with his studies on emigrants’ songs and ballads of railway workers. His work on folk narratives covers fairy tales as well as legends and memorates, focusing on functional and gender aspects, questions of repertoire, and transmission of folklore. He also dealt with the history of the discipline, edited various folk tale collections and reference books, and contributed to the Enzyklopädie des Märchens.

In Reimund Kvideland the field of folkloristics has lost a critical and committed scholar highly versed in methodology, an international academic with extensive interests and at the same time a talent for delving into particular cases. Grievous, however, is the loss of a wonderful person. Kvideland’s works and duties networked him with the entire world. What was special about him though was that he could always, be it for professional or personal matters, give you help and a piece of advice. His sense of humour enabled him to create contacts, strengthen and maintain old friendships while at the same time starting new ones. Kvideland knew how to put academic folklore research in the service of international communication and friendship.

Sabine Wienker-Piepho, München, Germany

(The full version of the obituary will be published in the 2nd issue of the ISFNR Newsletter.)