Global InformationBerit Backer information
Berit Backer | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 3, 1947 |
| Died | March 7, 1993 (aged 45–46) Oslo |
| Cause of death | Murder |
| Nationality | Norwegian |
| Occupation | social anthropologist |
| Years active | 1969–1993. |
| Known for | Working for Albanian causes, human rights activism, publishing papers, participating in documentaries, helping Kosovar Albanian refugees. |
| Relatives | Edvard Christian Danielsen (grandfather) Tone Danielsen (first-cousin) |
Berit Backer (August 3, 1947 – March 7, 1993) was a Norwegian social anthropologist and ethnographer, head of the Institute of Peace Research (PRIO) between 1978 and 1982 in Norway.[1][2] Backer was a human rights activist who fought for Albanian national causes for much of her life. She published literature on Albanian family structures from studies conducted in the village of Isniq, in the Rugova valley of Kosovo.[3] During her first visit to Albania in 1969, she became fascinated by the Albanians, and their culture and struggle for independence. She dedicated her research for a scholarly degree in social anthropology. Berit was fluent in Albanian.[4] She published the book Behind Stone Walls, a social anthropological study of traditional Albanian society. It focuses on the formation and evolution of household and family structures among the Kosovo Albanians. It was written on the basis of fieldwork carried in the village of Isniq in western Kosovo in 1975. Backer died suddenly in 1993 after having been stabbed to death by a mentally disturbed person.[5] John Halliday, editor of the memoirs of Enver Hoxha called her "an Albanian expert".[6] In 2018, Kosovos prime minister Hashim Thaqi dedicated the Presidential Jubilee Award to the Backer family.[7]
- ^ PRIO, PRIO. "Berit Backer (1947–93) was researcher at PRIO 1978–1982, specializing on the Albanian population in Yugoslavia and Albania. Mag Art Social Anthropology in 1979". PRIO. PRIO.
- ^ Doja, Albert (2012). "Customary Laws, Folk Culture, and Social Lifeworlds: Albanian Studies in Critical Perspective". In Luka Breneselovic (ed.). Spomenica Valtazara Bogišića o stogodišnjici njegove smrti [Gedächtnisschrift für Valtazar Bogišić zur 100. Wiederkehr seines Todestages]. Vol. 2. Institute of Comparative Law. pp. 183–199.
- ^ Marku, Hana (20 July 2015). "Kosovar love, marriage and family in 1975". Prishtina Insight. No. Berit Backer. Prishtina Insight. Prishtina Insight. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
- ^ Young, Antonia (1994). "Obituary: Berit Backer". Anthropology of East Europe Review. 12 (1). Colgate University, Hamilton, NY 13346): c/o Department of Sociology/Anthropology: 3.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: location (link) - ^ Elsie, Robert (2010). Historical Dictionary of Albania. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-8108-6188-6.
- ^ Hoxha, Enver; Halliday, Jon (1986). The Artful Albanian: Memoirs of Enver Hoxha. Chatto & Windus. p. 6. ISBN 978-0-7011-2970-5.
- ^ Thaçi, President of the Republic of Kosovo-Hashim (2018). "President Thaçi awarded the Presidential Jubilee Medal to Anthropologist Berit Backer". President of the Republic of Kosovo – Hashim Thaçi. No. Backer family receives an award. Retrieved 4 August 2019.