Nathan Söderblom
Nathan Söderblom (1866–1931) was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 1930 for his ecumenical work.
Nathan Söderblom studied theology and languages in Uppsala and became Doctor of theology in 1901 at the Sorbonne in Paris. Between 1901 and 1914 Söderblom was Professor of ‘theological prenotions’ and ‘theological encyclopedia’ (roughly equivalent to history of religion and philosophy of religion) at Uppsala University and between 1912 and 1914 he was also Professor of History of religion in Leipzig.
He was the one who introduced studies of non-Christian religions at the Faculty of Theology in Uppsala. During his time as professor he supported the wealth of research on Martin Luther that was conducted at the faculty. After his years abroad he had gained an international overview.
In 1914 he was elected archbishop and head of the Church of Sweden. Söderblom’s very active interest in ecumenics was awoken by World War I, leading to new contacts with other churches. He was a member of the Swedish academy and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1930 for his ecumenical work.
Nathan Söderblom and Uppsala University today
The Department of Theology in Uppsala is Sweden’s largest research and educational centre for religion and theology and constitutes a multidisciplinary department in time with global society. The department offers knowledge and understanding of religions and outlooks on life through history up to this day, from a local and a global perspective. It has a breadth of subjects and specialisations through eleven different research areas and education in seven main subject areas.