Karin Petherick

Karin Rosamund Petherick (née Burbury; 14 March 1929 – 2 November 2009) was a British literary scholar and translator of Swedish. She taught for many years at the Department of Scandinavian Studies at University College London (UCL), where she specialised in Swedish and Finland-Swedish literature. Her research focused on authors such as Hjalmar Bergman, Selma Lagerlöf, Hjalmar Söderberg, and Edith Södergran.

Early life and education Petherick was born Karin Rosamund Burbury on 14 March 1929. She grew up and studied in England, Finland, and Sweden. Before her academic career, she attended drama and art school and worked for the British Council in Helsinki and as a librarian at the Institute of International Affairs in Stockholm. She qualified in librarianship in London in 1963. A collection of essays titled A Century of Swedish Narrative: Essays in Honour of Karin Petherick, edited by Sarah Death and Helena Forsås-Scott, was published in 1994 to mark her retirement and recognise her contribution to the field.

Selected works Study of stylistic imitation in three novels by Hjalmar Bergman (1971) Per Gunnar Evander (1982; Swedish edition, 1984) Various essays on Swedish and Finland-Swedish authors