Phebe Fjellström

Phebe Maria Fjellström née Lindgren (1924–2007) was a Swedish ethnologist. She is remembered for her pioneering research into the culture of the Sámi peoples of northern Sweden, including their relationship with those in neighbouring Nordic counties. In particular, she took a special interest in Sámi silverware. She went on to research the Swedish colonization of the San Joaquin Valley in California. In 1981, she was appointed professor of ethnology at Umeå University where she remained until her retirement in 1990, both teaching and undertaking further research.

Early life, family and education Born in Porjus in the far north of Sweden, Phebe Maria Lindgren was the daughter of the confectioner Per Helmer Lindgren and his wife Valborg Tyra Augusta née Sandberg. After graduating from high school in Luleå in 1943, she studied art history, archaeology and Nordic folklore at Uppsala University, graduating in 1948. That year she married Karl-Erik Johan Fjellström, a fellow student. The couple had three children.

As a result of a fellowship awarded to her husband, the couple moved to La Jolla, California in 1966. While there she undertook research on a Swedish community in California which she published in 1970 as Swedish-American colonization in the San Joaquin Valley in California. A study of acculturation and assimilation of an immigrant group.

On returning to Sweden in the late 1960s, Fjellström continued her research in University of Gothenburg and then in Umeå University where in 1981 she was appointed professor of the newly established ethnology department. In addition to her teaching, she focused on culture in northern Scandinavia extending beyond the Sámi. She retired in 1990.

Phebe Fjellström died on 1 February 2007 in Uppsala where she was buried in the Hammarby Cemetery.