The Zetterstéen – Myhrman controversy
Abstract
In 1908, the desire of docent David Myhrman to qualify himself
for the professorship of Semitic languages at Lund University
by editing a large Arabic work on ethics, resulted in a tense
relation to his superior at Uppsala University, professor K.V.
Zetterstéen, and in 1911 the conflict degenerated into a fierce
and implacable fight that lasted to 1913. Myhrman had undergone
a swift training in Semitic languages and Assyriology in
the Unites States and Germany, a circumstance that made
Zetterstéen conclude that not only Myhrman’s edition was
marred by insufficient knowledge of Arabic, but that he also
had taken short cuts at the expense of others, when working on
Sumerian texts in Philadelphia. Finally, Zetterstéen got rid of
his undesired – and in his opinion undeserved – assistant
professor, but his own good name among his colleagues suffered
considerably from the unpleasant affair.
Publisher
LIR. journal
Collections
View/ Open
Date
2013Author
Eskhult, Mats
Keywords
akademiska strider
David Myhrman
H. S. Nyberg
K. V. Zetterstéen
Publication type
article, peer reviewed scientific
Language
swe