Overview: The exhibition "Professor Bonnevie's archive" was produced by the Museum for University and Science History in cooperation with The Science Library, both at the University of Oslo. It was held from May 23 to December 16, 2018.
"Professor Bonnevie's archive" put on display parts of the collection of Bonnevie's offprints, including source material of her research on fingerprints, genetics and race.
The exhibition raises questions about the relationship between ideas of race, race hygiene and science, and was connected to the exhibition FOLK at The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology.
Kristine Bonnevie (1872–1948) was Norway’s first female professor, and worked at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. She defended her doctoral thesis in 1906 and was appointed professor of zoology in 1912.
Kristine Bonnevie contributed to international research when mendelian genetics had its breakthrough in the beginning of the twentieth century. The emergence of genetics as an independent scientific field was, however, still intertwined with the rise of eugenics (or race hygiene). Leading geneticists assigned humans different values and attempted to improve humanity by preventing the ones considered genetically inferior from having children. The exhibition throws light on how Bonnevie – and the Norwegian and international scientific milieu – related to their contemporary eugenics and racial thinking.
This was the first time that such aspects of her research were discussed through an exhibition. The aim was not to contribute an ethical judgement of the past, but to invite for reflection on how science was – and continues to be – interwoven in complex social relationships. (The text was originally published in Norwegian here.)
Samarbeidspartner
Universitetet i Oslo: Kulturhistorisk museum, avdeling for universitetshistorie
Medprodusenter
Árran julesáme guovdásj/lulesamisk senter
Grorud Ungdomsråd
Setesdalsmuseet
Utstillingen mottar støtte fra
Norges forskningsråd
Fritt Ord
The exhibition is developed in cooperation with
Museum of Cultural History, Section for Museum of University and Science History
Co-producers
Árran Lule Sami center
Grorud Youth Council
The Setesdal Museum
Financial support
The Research Council of Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation