# Hugo Valentin
> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Hugo_Valentin
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Hugo_Valentin.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Valentin
> Source revision: 1300984173
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)
{{Short description|Swedish historian}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Hugo Mauritz Valentin
| image = Hugo Valentin 1958.jpg
| alt = Valentin in 1958 in Stockholm
| caption =
| birth_name = Hugo Mauritz Valentin
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1888|10|04}}
| birth_place = [Vikingstad](/source/Vikingstad), [Östergötland](/source/%C3%96sterg%C3%B6tland), [Sweden](/source/Sweden)
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1963|05|07|1888|10|04}}
| death_place = [Uppsala](/source/Uppsala), Sweden
| other_names =
| occupation = Historian, Author, Lecturer
}}
'''Hugo Mauritz Valentin''' (October 4, 1888 – May 7, 1963) was a Swedish [historian](/source/historian), [writer](/source/writer), and scholar in the field of [Jewish history](/source/Jewish_history), particularly the history of [Jews in Sweden](/source/History_of_the_Jews_in_Sweden), for which he has been labelled "The father of Swedish-Jewish history".[{{Cite web |last=SELVÉN |first=SEBASTIAN |title=Judiska spår i Dalarnas historia |url=https://dalarnasmuseum.se/produkt/judiska-spar-i-dalarnas-historia/ |access-date=2025-01-28 |website=Dalarnas museum |language=sv-SE}}] He is also noted for his work on [antisemitism](/source/antisemitism) and the [Holocaust](/source/The_Holocaust).
An honorary president and former chairman of the Swedish Zionist Federation, Valentin authored numerous works on [Jewish history](/source/Jewish_history), [antisemitism](/source/antisemitism), and [Zionism](/source/Zionism),[{{Cite web |date=2015-03-20 |title=Prof. Valentin, Swedish Educator and Leading Zionist, Dies in Stockholm |url=https://www.jta.org/archive/prof-valentin-swedish-educator-and-leading-zionist-dies-in-stockholm |access-date=2025-01-28 |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |language=en-US}}] part of which has been translated into English.
== Biography ==
=== Early life ===
Valentin was born in rural [Östergötland County](/source/%C3%96sterg%C3%B6tland_County) in Sweden, as the second child of the farmer Oskar Valentin from [Gothenburg](/source/Gothenburg) and his wife Berta Schönthal, who was born in [Norrköping](/source/Norrk%C3%B6ping).[{{Cite news |last=Tingsten |first=Herbert |date=1963 |title=Hugo Valentin död |url=https://www.tingstensamlingen.se/publication/4966727 |access-date=2025-01-28 |work=Dagens Nyheter}}][{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/svenskaslktkal19193stoc/page/n367/mode/2up |title=Svenska släktkalendern |date=1912 |publisher=Stockholm : Bonnier |others=Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center}}]
=== Early academic career ===
Hugo Valentin's academic career began with a PhD from [Uppsala University](/source/Uppsala_University) in 1916, with his early work mainly focusing on the [Age of Liberty](/source/Age_of_Liberty).[Valentin, Hugo, ''Frihetstidens riddarhus : några bidrag till dess karakteristik'', Stockholm: Geber, 2015.] In 1919, Valentin moved to with his wife Fanny Schiöler to [Falun](/source/Falun), where he took up a position as a lecturer at the ''Falu högre allmänna läroverk'', a role he would hold for the next ten years.[Runblom, Harald, "Hugo Valentin: Prominent 18th-century historian and Zionist," in Björk & Johansson (eds.), ''Svenska historiker. Från medeltid till våra dagar'', Stockholm 2009, pp. 469-470.]
Valentin is best known for his work on the [history of Jews in Sweden](/source/History_of_the_Jews_in_Sweden). His 1924 book "Judarnas historia i Sverige" (''{{Langx|en|History of the Jews in Sweden}}'') remains a key work in the field.[Pontus Rudberg: ''[http://www.medaon.de/pdf/medaon_27_rudberg.pdf Rezension zu: Michael Busch: Juden in Schweden 1685 bis 1838]'', in: Medaon – Magazin für jüdisches Leben in Forschung und Bildung, 14 (2020), 27, S. 1–5.] He also published a shorter version, "Judarna i Sverige" (''{{Langx|en|Jews in Sweden}}''), which covered the situation of Jews in Sweden during the [interwar period](/source/interwar_period) and the [Second World War](/source/World_War_II). This edition was expanded and republished in later years, with the most recent edition appearing in 2013.[Valentin, Hugo, ''Judarna i Sverige'', Stockholm: Bonnier 1964.] Valentin was among the first to write about the Scandinavian countries' responses to the Nazi persecution of Jews.[Valentin, Hugo, "Rescue and Relief Activities on behalf of Jewish Victims in Scandinavia", in ''YIVO Annual of Jewish Social Science'' VIII (1953), pp. 533–560.][Bortz, Olof, "'The Greatest Pogrom in World History': Hugo Valentin and the Holocaust." In Heuman, Johannes & Pontus Rudberg (eds.), ''Early Holocaust Memory in Sweden: Archives, Testimonies, and Reflections'', Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan 2021, pp. 119–138.]
=== During World War II ===
Valentin was a committed anti-Nazi and democratic advocate.[{{cite journal|access-date=2025-01-05 |date=2023-06-19 |doi=10.30752/nj.126119 |first=Olof |issn=2343-4929 |journal=Nordisk Judaistik/Scandinavian Jewish Studies |last=Bortz |number=1 |pages=52–65 |title=Hugo Valentin's scholarly campaign against antisemitism: 1920s to the early 1950s |url=https://journal.fi/nj/article/view/126119 |volume=34}}] During [World War II](/source/World_War_II), Valentin disseminated early knowledge of the [Holocaust](/source/Holocaust). In October 1942, Valentin wrote a well-documented article in the influential daily newspaper [Göteborgs Handels- och Sjöfartstidning](/source/G%C3%B6teborgs_Handels-_och_Sj%C3%B6fartstidning), summarising available facts and mentioning the murder of 700,000 Jews in Poland by the Nazis. This article was widely quoted in Sweden. Valentin also continuously reported in [Judisk Krönika](/source/Judisk_Kr%C3%B6nika) on the Nazi mass murders of Jews in various parts of Europe.[{{cite book |date=2021 |first=Johannes |isbn=978-3-030-55531-3 |last=Heuman |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |series=The Holocaust and Its Contexts |title=Early Holocaust Memory in Sweden: Archives, Testimonies, and Reflections}}]
thumb|Valentin's grave at Judiska norra begravningsplatsen in Solna
=== After World War II ===
In 1945 Valentin was the first to write about the reception of the Holocaust survivors to Sweden. From 1951, Valentin edited the cultural magazine [Judisk Tidskrift](/source/Judisk_Tidskrift).[{{cite web|title=Judisk tidskrift|publisher=Libris|access-date=18 December 2021|archive-date=31 October 2017|url=http://libris.kb.se/bib/427276?vw=full|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171031081559/http://libris.kb.se/bib/427276?vw=full}}] In 1953, Valentin published an article in the [YIVO](/source/YIVO) Annual detailing the Scandinavian countries' responses to the Holocaust.[Hugo Valentin, ”Rescue and Relief Activities on behalf of Jewish Victims in Scandinavia”, ''YIVO Annual of Jewish Social Science'' 8 (1953) s. 533–560.] Valentin was one of the founders of the Swedish section of the [World Jewish Congress](/source/World_Jewish_Congress) in 1944 and was appointed chairman in 1946. Valentin was strongly engaged in support of [Israel](/source/Israel). He was one of the initiators of the campaign that led to the formation of [Sweden–Israel Friendship Association](/source/Sweden%E2%80%93Israel_Friendship_Association) in 1953.[{{Citation |last=Kättström |first=Örjan |title=Samfundet Sverige Israel - Historia |url=http://www.sverigeisrael.se/index.php/om-oss/historia |publisher=[Samfundet Sverige–Israel](/source/Samfundet_Sverige%E2%80%93Israel) |accessdate=24 January 2015 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140619231710/http://www.sverigeisrael.se/index.php/om-oss/historia |archivedate=19 June 2014}}]
Valentin died in Uppsala in 1963, aged 74. He is buried in the Jewish cemetery at [Norra begravningsplatsen](/source/Norra_begravningsplatsen) in [Solna](/source/Solna), [Stockholm](/source/Stockholm_County).[{{Cite web |date=1988 |title=223 (Vem är hon) |url=https://runeberg.org/vemarhon/0223.html |access-date=2025-01-28 |website=runeberg.org |language=sv}}]
== Hugo Valentin Center at Uppsala University ==
The Hugo Valentin Centre was established at [Uppsala University](/source/Uppsala_University)'s Faculty of Arts in November 2009 through a merging of two previous units, the Centre for Multiethnic Research and The Uppsala Programme for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. The unit started its work under the new name on 1 January 2010 and on 1 January 2025 it was renamed to Uppsala Centre for Holocaust and Genocide Studies.
The renaming drew international criticism, including from historians [Jan Grabowski](/source/Jan_Grabowski) and [Christopher Browning](/source/Christopher_R._Browning), who argued in an open letter that removing Hugo Valentin’s name weakened the centre’s historical connection to Jewish history and [Holocaust studies](/source/Holocaust_studies).[{{Cite web |last=Nyheter |first=S. V. T. |date=2025-01-28 |title=Internationellt upprop mot Uppsala universitet: "Förolämpning" |url=https://www.svt.se/kultur/internationellt-upprop-mot-uppsala-universitet-forolampning |access-date=2025-01-28 |website=SVT Nyheter |language=sv}}] Aron Verständig, Chair of the Swedish Jewish Central Council, called the decision a negative signal, particularly in a time of rising [antisemitism](/source/antisemitism).[{{Cite web |last=Nyheter |first=S. V. T. |date=2025-01-10 |title=Hård kritik mot Uppsala universitet efter namnbyte på centrum för Förintelsestudier |url=https://www.svt.se/kultur/hard-kritik-mot-universitet-efter-namnbyte-pa-centrum-for-forintelsestudier |access-date=2025-01-28 |website=SVT Nyheter |language=sv}}] Uppsala University representatives defended the change, stating that the new name clarified the centre’s focus on Holocaust and genocide studies without altering its research mission.