Stig Wikander

{{short description|Swedish Indologist and Iranologist}} {{Infobox academic | honorific_prefix =  | name = Stig Wikander | honorific_suffix = | image = Stig Wikander.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | birth_name =  | birth_date = {{birth date |1908|08|27|df=y}} | birth_place = [[Norrtälje]], Sweden | death_date = {{death date and age|1983|08|20|1908|08|27|df=y}} | death_place = [[Uppsala]], Sweden | death_cause = | citizenship = | other_names = | occupation = | period = | known_for = | home_town = | title = | boards =  | spouse = | partner = Gunnel Heikel | children = 3 | parents = | relatives = | awards = | website = | education = | alma_mater = {{Plainlist| * [[Uppsala University]] }} | thesis_title = Der Arische Männerbund | thesis_url =  | thesis_year = 1938 | school_tradition = | doctoral_advisor = | academic_advisors = [[Henrik Samuel Nyberg]] | influences = [[Otto Höfler]] | era = | discipline = {{Plainlist| * [[Indo-European studies]] * [[Indology]] * [[Iranology]] }} | sub_discipline = | workplaces = {{Plainlist| * Uppsala University }} | doctoral_students = | notable_students = {{Plainlist| * [[Bo Utas]] * [[Jaan Puhvel]] }} | main_interests = [[Indo-Iranian religion]] | notable_works = | notable_ideas = | influenced = [[Georges Dumézil]] | signature = | signature_alt = | signature_size = | footnotes = }} '''Oscar Stig Wikander''' (27 August 1908 – 20 December 1983) was a Swedish [[Indology|Indologist]], [[Iranian studies|Iranologist]] and [[Religious studies|religious scientist]].

==Biography== Stig Wikander was born in [[Norrtälje]], Sweden on 27 August 1908, the son of a pharmacist. After graduating from high school in [[Uppsala]] at seventeen, Wikander enrolled at [[Uppsala University]], where he received an [[Master's degree|MA]] in [[Latin]] and [[Greek language|Greek]] [[summa cum laude]] at the age of eighteen.{{sfn|Utas|Duchesne-Guillemin|2009}} His mentor at Uppsala was [[Henrik Samuel Nyberg]].{{sfn|Timus|2005|pp=9734-9737}} Wikander subsequently went to [[Paris]], [[Berlin]] and [[Copenhagen]].{{sfn|Utas|Duchesne-Guillemin|2009}} In Paris he became a member of the prestigious [[Société Asiatique]].{{sfn|Timus|2005|pp=9734-9737}} At the [[University of Copenhagen]] he studied under [[Arthur Christensen]].{{sfn|Utas|Duchesne-Guillemin|2009}}

While still young, Wikander gained a reputation as a brilliant scholar with deep knowledge across a wide range of fields. In 1935–1936, Wikander and [[Geo Widengren]] arranged [[Avesta]] seminars at the Uppsala University under Nyberg. Wikander gained his [[PhD]] in [[Iranian languages]] and [[Iranian religions|religions]] at Uppsala University in 1938. His PhD examined lexical evidence in [[Sanskrit]] and the [[Avestan language]] on the importance of young warrior bands among the [[Indo-Iranians]]. It was published in [[German language|German]] under the title ''Der Arische Männerbünde'' (1938). Wikander's thesis was much influenced by the research of the Austrian philologist [[Otto Höfler]], who taught German at [[Lund University]] from 1928 to 1934. From 1938 to 1939, Wikander taught [[Swedish language|Swedish]] at the [[University of Munich]], where Höfler was a professor of [[German philology]] and [[German folklore|folklore]].{{sfn|Utas|Duchesne-Guillemin|2009}}

In 1941, Wikander published his study on the Indo-Iranian wind god [[Vayu]]. He was subsequently appointed [[Docent]] of [[Indo-Iranian languages]] at Lund University. After [[World War II]], Wikander served as a [[Red Cross]] delegate in [[Greece]] and [[Turkey]].{{sfn|Utas|Duchesne-Guillemin|2009}}

In 1947, together with linguist [[:de:Bertil Malmberg (fonetiker)|Bertil Malmberg]], Wikander co-founded the journal ''[[Studia Linguistica]]''. From 1947 to 1948, Wikander taught the history of religions as a visiting professor at Uppsala University. In 1953, Wikander was appointed Chair of Sanskrift and [[Comparative linguistics|Comparative]] [[Indo-European studies|Indo-European Philology]] at the Uppsala University. He also served as a visiting professor at [[Columbia University]] (1959–1960) and [[El Colegio de México]] (1967). Wikander was a close friend of the historian of religion [[Mircea Eliade]], with whom he corresponded frequently in [[French language|French]]. Amongst the topics discussed between them is the idea to create a distinct science of religion separated from the field of [[history of religion]]. Wikander was also close friend of [[Georges Dumézil]], who had taught French at the Uppsala University from 1931 to 1933. The works of Wikander had a strong influence on Dumézil's research on [[Indo-European religion]]. Prominent students of Wikander include [[Folke Josephson]], [[Gunilla Gren-Eklund]] and [[Bo Utas]].{{sfn|Utas|Duchesne-Guillemin|2009}} Wikander was considered an [[Germanic studies|expert]] on [[Germanic Antiquity]].{{sfn|Strutynski|1974|p=29}}

Wikander retired in 1974. He died in Uppsala on 20 December 1983.{{sfn|Utas|Duchesne-Guillemin|2009}} The works of Wikander are still of importance to modern students of religion, particularly because he was able to draw upon a diverse number of primary sources in Greek, Latin, [[Arabic language|Arabic]], Indo-Iranian and other languages to build his arguments.{{sfn|Timus|2005|pp=9734-9737}}

==Personal life== Wikander was married to the nurse Gunnel Heikel (1911–1973). Together they had three daughters.

==See also== * [[Jan de Vries (philologist)|Jan de Vries]] * [[Edgar C. Polomé]] * [[Björn Collinder]] * [[Vilhelm Grønbech]]

==Selected works== * ''Der arische Männerbund : Studien zur indo-iranischen Sprach- und Religionsgeschichte'', Lund, Ohlsson, 1938 (Ph.D. thesis). * ''Vayu : Texte und Untersuchungen zur indo-iranischen Religionsgeschichte, t. 1. Texte'', Uppsala-Leipzig, 1941. * ''Gudinnan Anahita och den zoroastiska eldskulten'', Uppsala, 1942. * ''Feuerpriester in Kleinasien und Iran'' (Acta Regia Societatis humaniorum litterarum Lundensis, 40), Lund, 1946. * "Pāṇḍavasagan och Mahābhāratas mystiska förutsättningar", ''Religion och Bibel'' 6, 1947, pp. 27–39. * ''Araber, vikingar, väringar'' (Svenska humanistiska förbundet 90), Lund, 1978.

==References== {{Reflist|2}}

==Sources== {{Refbegin|2}} * {{cite web |url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/wikander-oscar-stig |title=WIKANDER, Oscar Stig |last1=Utas |first1=Bo |author-link1=Bo Utas |last2=Duchesne-Guillemin |first2=Jacques |author-link2=Jacques Duchesne-Guillemin |date=July 15, 2009 |website=[[Encyclopædia Iranica]] |access-date=September 3, 2020 }} * {{cite book |last1=Strutynski |first1=Udo |year=1974 |chapter=History and Structure in Germanic Mythology |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gsTW-RedBx8C&pg=PA29 |editor1-last=Larson |editor1-first=Gerald J. |editor1-link=Gerald James Larson |editor2-last=Puhvel |editor2-first=Jaan |editor2-link=Jaan Puhvel |editor3-last=Littleton |editor3-first=C. Scott |editor3-link=C. Scott Littleton |title=Myth in Indo-European Antiquity |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gsTW-RedBx8C |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |pages=29–50 |isbn=0-520-02378-1 }} * {{cite book |last1=Timus |first1=Mihaela |year=2005 |chapter=Wikander, Stig |chapter-url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/environment/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/wikander-stig |editor1-last=Jones |editor1-first=Lindsay |title=Encyclopedia of Religion |volume=14 |edition=2 |publisher=[[Macmillan Inc.|Macmillan Reference USA]] |pages=9734–9736 |isbn=0-02-865983-X }} {{Refend}}

==Further reading== * {{Cite journal|last=Timuş|first=Mihaela|year=2002|url=http://www.romlit.ro/enigmaticul_stig_oscar_wikander|title=Enigmaticul Stig Oscar Wikander|journal=[[România Literară]]|language=ro|issue=22|issn=1220-6318}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wikander, Stig}} [[Category:1908 births]] [[Category:1983 deaths]] [[Category:Germanic studies scholars]] [[Category:Indologists]] [[Category:Swedish Iranologists]] [[Category:Academic staff of LMU Munich]] [[Category:People from Norrtälje]] [[Category:Swedish historians of religion]] [[Category:Swedish orientalists]] [[Category:Uppsala University alumni]] [[Category:Academic staff of Uppsala University]] [[Category:Indo-Europeanists]]