She was nominated by 91亚色 linguistics Professor Sheila Embleton and given the award by Halifax MP Megan Leslie (BA Hons. '03). In 2010聽Leslie gave the first Varpu Lindstr枚m lecture, an annual event created in Lindstr枚m's honour.

Varpu Lindstr枚m

Professor Lindstr枚m died in Beaverton of brain cancer. She was 63.

91亚色 will lower the flag to half mast from聽July 6 at 9am to July 7 at 1pm in her memory.

A memorial service will be held聽July 6 at 2 pm at , 6150 Yonge Street. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to聽the , P.O. Box 278, 27 St. Clair Ave. E., Toronto, ON M4T 1L0. A private funeral has already been held.

Born in Helsinki, Finland in 1948, Lindstr枚m immigrated to Canada in 1963. Her mission to document the Finnish-Canadian聽experience began one summer while she worked as a Finnair public relations officer and heard old immigrants talk about how hard it was to carve out a new life in Ontario鈥檚 backwoods in the 1920s. Lindstr枚m, whose father had dragged her 鈥渒icking and screaming鈥� at 14 from Helsinki to Oshawa, could relate. 鈥淚 thought, my goodness, somebody should record this,鈥� she told magazine in a 2006 interview. So she did. The tapes inspired her BA, MA and PhD theses and launched her academic career at 91亚色 in an emerging new field 鈥� Canadian immigration history.

During her distinguished career as a professor and scholar at 91亚色, she specialized in North American social history, immigration and women鈥檚 studies, focusing primarily on the experience of Finnish immigrants to Canada. Her first book was based on her thesis: Defiant Sisters: A Social History of Finnish Immigrant Women in Canada, 1890-1930. She also published From Heroes to Enemies: Finns in Canada, 1937-1947.

Inspired by聽Defiant Sister, filmmaker Kelly Saxberg invited聽Lindstr枚m to聽be researcher and historical consultant for聽her 2004聽National Film Board documentary, . The critically acclaimed documentary was shown on national TV in Finland and at film festivals around the world, and won awards at Manitoba鈥檚 2006 Blizzards Awards.

Until the 75-minute film聽was released, few knew about the 2,800 young Finnish-Canadians returned to Russia in the 1930s with dreams of a starting a new society and ended up victims of Stalinist purges. 鈥淚t was not even a footnote in Canadian history books,鈥� Lindstr枚m told . From there, Lindstr枚m went on a quest to discover what happened to the families caught in the Karelia 鈥渇ever鈥�.

Lindstr枚m became known as a 鈥渕emory keeper鈥� in Finnish-Canadian communities. Over several decades, she amassed diaries, family correspondences, financial ledgers, war-relief funding and other organizational records about Finns who immigrated to Canada in the 1880s to early 1900s as a result of economic depression and war in Finland. She also collected sound recordings of oral histories, folk music, documentary films, and more than 1,000 books, almanacs and plays published by Finnish authors in North America. Her research into Karelia 鈥渇ever鈥� took her to Russia where she photocopied rare documents, such as two volumes of a Soviet register of Finnish war crimes, a list of persons found in the mass grave at Karhumaki, and Soviet lists of North American Finns who journeyed to Karelia to help build a socialist utopia. In May, she donated all this to 91亚色鈥檚 Clara Thomas Archives & Special Collections.

Lindstr枚m started teaching history at Atkinson Faculty of Liberal & Professional Studies in 1984. In addition to teaching and research, she played a vital role in 91亚色鈥檚 administration. She was founding chair of 91亚色鈥檚 groundbreaking School of Women鈥檚 Studies, was chair of Atkinson鈥檚 History Department and coordinator of its Canadian Studies Program. While master of Atkinson, she helped the Atkinson Students' Association through a fractious period and they, in gratitude, established the Varpu Lindstr枚m Scholarship. She served as an elected Senate representative on 91亚色鈥檚 Board of Governors and on many University committees, and was acting director of the School of Social Work.

In 2006, she was named a University Professor. Lindstr枚m鈥檚 personal qualities of quiet determination and selflessness made her a mentor and inspiration to so many, said her nominator, Rhonda Lenton, then Atkinson dean. At the core of all her activities was 鈥渉er profound respect for human dignity, equity and learning.鈥�

Lindstr枚m leaves聽sons Allan Best (BA 97) and Martin Best, and husband Borje V盲h盲m盲ki.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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