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.