Walter Anderson | |
|---|---|
 Walter Anderson around 1930 | |
| Born | 10 October [O.S. 28 September] 1885 |
| Died | 23 August 1962(1962-08-23) (aged 76) |
| Alma mater | |
| Known for | the law of self-correction |
| Awards | Order of the White Star, 3rd class[1] |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | |
| Institutions | |
| Thesis | Император и аббат: исторія одного народнаго анекдота |
| Notable students | |
Walter Arthur Alexander Anderson (Russian:Вальтер Николаевич Андерсон,romanized: Val'ter Nikolaevič Anderson; 10 October [O.S. 28 September] 1885 – 23 August 1962) was aBaltic Germanethnologist (folklorist) andnumismatist.
Anderson was born from aBaltic German family inMinsk (now inBelarus), but in 1894 moved toKazan (Russia), where his father,Nikolai Anderson (1845–1905), had been appointed as professor forFinno-Ugric languages at theUniversity of Kazan. Anderson's younger brother was themathematician andeconomistOskar Anderson (1887–1960), and his older brother was theastrophysicistWilhelm Anderson (1880–1940). The turmoil created by theRussian Revolution prompted Anderson and his brother Wilhelm to leave Russia and to move toTartu in Estonia.[2] While living inEstonia in 1939, Anderson, like the majority ofBaltic Germans living there, was resettled toGermany. In 1962 he died after having been involved in a traffic accident.
In 1904, Anderson enrolled at theUniversity of Kazan, and from 1909 continued his studies inSaint Petersburg, where he received aMagister degree from theUniversity of Saint Petersburg in 1911. During his time in Saint Petersburg he also catalogued the folk tales held in the archives of theImperial Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences and theImperial Russian Geographical Society.[3] For the 1911/1912 winter semester he enrolled at theFriedrich-Wilhelm University inBerlin,[4] returning to the Kazan to continue his studies in the autumn of 1912. In 1916 he submitted his thesis on the ballad of theEmperor and the Abbot (AT 922) for which he received a Doctorate[5] from theUniversity of Kazan in 1918. He worked at theUniversity of Tartu inEstonia between 1920 and 1939, where in 1920 he was made the first holder of a chair of folklore.[6] Anderson's most significant students at the time wereOskar Loorits andAugust Annist [et;de] and laterIsidor Levin.
From 1920, he was a member of theLearned Estonian Society (Gelehrte Estnische Gesellschaft), Estonia's oldest scholarly organization,[7] and from 1928 to 1929 he was the president of the society.[8] In 1930 he, like his fatherNikolai Anderson before him, was made an honorary member of the society. He also held honorary membership of theAmerican Folklore Society and theHellenic Folklore Society [el].[9] In 1936 Anderson became a corresponding member of thePrussian Academy of Sciences.[10] In addition to this he was a corresponding member of theRoyal Gustavus Adolphus Academy, theFinnish Literature Society, theFinno-Ugrian Society and theWarsaw Scientific Society.[9]
From 1940 to 1945, he worked at theUniversity of Königsberg. After the end of the second world war he received avisiting professorship at theUniversity of Kiel, which he held until his retirement. A notable student he mentored at Kiel wasW. F. H. Nicolaisen who had a distinguished career in folklore studies in the United States and Scotland. In 1950 Anderson was invited to the US to take part in a meeting of theInternational Folk Music Council held inBloomington, Indiana, after which he stayed atIndiana University Bloomington for a few months as a visiting scholar.[11] He retired in 1953 but remained affiliated with the University of Kiel asemeritus professor until his death.
Walter Anderson was one of the driving forces behind the comparativegeographic-historical Method offolkloristics. He is best known for his monographKaiser und Abt (Folklore Fellows' Communications 42, Helsinki 1923)[12] on folktales of typeAT 922. Anderson also had a keen interest innumismatics,[2] and he published several articles in this field. Some of his contributions to the study of Islamic coins are considered to have been groundbreaking.[13] For some time between 1920 and 1939 he also served as conservator for the coin collection of the Learned Estonian Society.[14]
Anderson was awarded the EstonianOrder of the White Star (3rd class) in 1938.[1]
To commemorate the 110th anniversary of Walter Anderon's birth, Department of Estonian and Comparative Folklore at the University of Tartu organized the symposium "Walter Anderson and Folklore Studies Today".[15]In 2019, the centenary year of the Department, the University of Tartu established the annual Walter Anderson Memorial Lecture to honour Walter Anderson's memory.[16]
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