Walter Anderson (folklorist) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Walter Anderson
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Walter Anderson around 1930
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| Born | 10 October [O.S. 28 September] 1885 Minsk, Minsk Governorate, Russian Empire
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| Died | 23 August 1962 (aged 76) |
| Nationality | Russian, Estonian, German |
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| Known for | the law of self-correction |
| Awards | Order of the White Star, 3rd class |
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| Thesis | Император и аббат: исторія одного народнаго анекдота |
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Walter Arthur Alexander Anderson (born October 10, 1885 – died August 23, 1962) was a smart person who studied many things. He was a Baltic German ethnologist, which means he studied different cultures and people. He was also a folklorist, someone who studies folk tales, myths, and legends. Besides that, he was a numismatist, an expert in coins and money.
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Walter Anderson's Life Story
Walter Anderson was born in Minsk, a city that is now in Belarus. His family was Baltic German, meaning they were Germans who lived in the Baltic region. In 1894, when Walter was nine, his family moved to Kazan, Russia. His father, Nikolai Anderson, became a professor there, teaching about languages from Finland and Hungary.
Walter had two brothers who also became famous. His younger brother, Oskar Anderson, was a mathematician and economist. His older brother, Wilhelm Anderson, studied stars and space.
Life in Russia became difficult because of the Russian Revolution. This was a time of big changes and unrest in the country. Because of this, Walter and his brother Wilhelm decided to leave Russia. They moved to Tartu, a city in Estonia.
Walter lived in Estonia until 1939. At that time, many Baltic Germans living in Estonia, including Walter, were moved to Germany. This was a big change for them. Sadly, in 1962, Walter Anderson passed away after being in a car accident.
Walter Anderson's Career
Walter Anderson started his university studies in 1904 at the University of Kazan. Later, in 1909, he continued his education in Saint Petersburg. He earned a special degree called a Magister from the University of Saint Petersburg in 1911.
While he was in Saint Petersburg, Walter did an important job. He helped organize and list all the folk tales kept in the archives of two big groups: the Imperial Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences and the Imperial Russian Geographical Society. This helped make these stories easier to find and study.
For a short time in 1911 and 1912, he studied in Berlin, Germany. Then he went back to Kazan to finish his studies. In 1916, he wrote a big paper, called a thesis, about a folk tale known as "The Emperor and the Abbot." This paper helped him earn his Doctorate degree from the University of Kazan in 1918.
From 1920 to 1939, Walter worked at the University of Tartu in Estonia. He became the very first professor there to teach only about folklore. Some of his most important students during this time were Oskar Loorits and August Annist. Later, he also taught Isidor Levin.
Walter was also a member of many important academic groups. From 1920, he was part of the Learned Estonian Society, which is Estonia's oldest group for scholars. He was even the president of this society from 1928 to 1929. In 1930, he became an honorary member, just like his father had been. He was also an honorary member of the American Folklore Society and the Hellenic Folklore Society. In 1936, he became a "corresponding member" of the Prussian Academy of Sciences. This meant he could share his research with them even though he wasn't living in Prussia. He was also a corresponding member of several other important groups in Sweden, Finland, and Poland.
After 1940, he worked at the University of Königsberg until 1945. After World War II ended, he was invited to teach at the University of Kiel in Germany as a visiting professor. He stayed there until he retired. One of his notable students at Kiel was W. F. H. Nicolaisen, who later became a famous folklore scholar in the United States and Scotland.
In 1950, Walter was invited to the United States for a meeting about folk music. After the meeting, he stayed at Indiana University Bloomington for a few months as a visiting scholar, sharing his knowledge. He officially retired in 1953. However, he continued to be connected with the University of Kiel as an emeritus professor until he passed away.
Walter Anderson's Important Work
Walter Anderson was a key person in developing a way to study folk tales called the comparative geographic-historical Method. This method helps researchers compare different versions of the same folk tale from all over the world to understand how they changed over time and where they came from.
He is most famous for his book called Kaiser und Abt (meaning "Emperor and Abbot"). This book was about a specific type of folk tale, known as AT 922. This system helps classify different kinds of folk tales.
Walter Anderson was also very interested in numismatics, which is the study of coins, paper money, and medals. He wrote several articles about this topic. Some of his ideas about old Islamic coins were considered very new and important. For some years, between 1920 and 1939, he also helped take care of the coin collection at the Learned Estonian Society.
Awards and Recognition
In 1938, Walter Anderson received an award from Estonia called the Order of the White Star (3rd class). This was a special honor for his contributions.
Remembering Walter Anderson
To celebrate 110 years since Walter Anderson's birth, the University of Tartu held a special meeting called "Walter Anderson and Folklore Studies Today."
In 2019, which was 100 years after the Department of Estonian and Comparative Folklore was founded at the University of Tartu, they started a new tradition. They now have an annual "Walter Anderson Memorial Lecture" to honor his memory and his important work.
