Henrik Grenman and Olga Sederholm: Two unlucky Finnish Orientalists from the town of Vasa

Authors

• Harry Halén

Abstract

Henrik Grenman and Olga Sederholm are virtually unknown in the history of Oriental studies in Finland. Both came from the same town, and both had an unusual and somewhat tragic fate. Both had to abandon their call for outward reasons.

There can always be found forgotten people on curious sidetracks, unknown even  to  specialists  in  the  same  field.  Their scholarly achievement may not be very remarkable, but we Orientalists certainly feel a brotherly sympathy towards
and interest in every sincere student of our favourite subject. With this modest contribution I wish to add some new names to the repertoire of Professor Klaus Karttunen, a renowned specialist also in the history of Oriental learning.