Dr. Andreas Önnerfors, fil kand, fil dr (Lund)
Director of the Centre for Research into Freemasonry and Senior Lecturer in History
Email: a.onnerfors@sheffield.ac.uk
Room: Humanities Research Institute | Telephone: 0114 22 29893
Andreas Önnerfors (b. 71) was raised in Germany in a Swedish-German family. He took his German Abitur in 1990 in Trier. After a period of extensive travel and some initial studies, he served in the Swedish Army between 1993 and 1996, interrupted by studies in History of Sciences and Ideas. Being trained at the Interpreter School of the Swedish Armed Forces, he acquired Russian. In 1997, he again took up his undergraduate studies in the History of Sciences and Ideas at the University of Lund, Sweden were he completed his BA and MA starting PhD-training in 1999. In 2000, he also was admitted to a German PhD-scheme at the University of Greifswald at the Baltic shore. Andreas defended his PhD-thesis successfully in 2003. It is titled "Svenska Pommern: kulturmöten och identifikation 1720-1815" (Swedish Pomerania: Cultural Encounters and Identification 1720-1815). Since then, Andreas has undertaken postdoctoral research on Swedish Eighteenth Century freemasonry and has taught courses mainly within European Studies. He also has a large interest in press history and the history of sciences. Andreas has published about forty papers and articles in various languages, a majority of them on freemasonry.
| Membership of Professional Bodies |
British Society for Eighteenth Century Studies.
Current Research
At the moment, I am preparing a monograph on freemasonry as a topic in 18th century press. Despite allegations of secrecy, freemasonry was an integrated part of press coverage in newspapers and educated journals throughout the century. What started with often revealing articles in newspapers and reviews of works on freemasonry in journals culminated at the end of the century in the development of two major specialized journals: Journal für Freymaurer, edited 1784-86 in Vienna and the Freemason's Magazine, edited 1793-96 in London. This monograph seeks to describe this development and offers rich comparative perspectives into the press landscape of Europe at the time.
Besides this project I am working on an edition of the diaries and correspondence of Swedish diplomat Jacob Gustaf Pontusson De la Gardie (1768-1842) from his mission to Vienna around 1800.
Another commitment is the edition of exiled Swedish philosopher and writer Thomas Thorilds (1761-1808) works.
Research Interests
Trained as an Historian of Ideas and Sciences, I am devoted to research into the development of human thought, the creation of new knowledge and processes of innovation. Changes in man´s perception of the world and the rise of new conceptualisations occur sometimes under unpredictable circumstances. Press and book history are fields where these changes can be observed on a micro level. Besides this, I am interested in the development of associational culture – in particular freemasonry – in Europe. My theoretical interests lie in the field of cultural semiotics, trying to understand how human encounters create sign systems.
Research Supervision
I am keen to supervise students interested in the general cultural history of the 18th century with a focus upon press and associational culture, networks and cultural encounters. My background allows me also to supervise a wide range of potential projects on Swedish/Scandinavian (and German) cultural and intellectual history.
Current PhD students:
- Dorothe Sommer (subject to approval), Syrian and Lebanese freemasonry during the Ottoman Empire.
- Harriet Sandvall, (co-supervisor with Christine Stevenson, Courtauld Institute of Arts), Masonic Halls in Britain.
- Jennifer Farrar, (co-supervisor with Tim Baycroft), The Persecution of Freemasons in France, 1940-44.
| Administrative Roles and Responsibilities |
- Director, Centre for Research into Freemasonry and Fraternalism 2007-2012.
- Member of the Senate 2008-2011.
- Senate representation in the Military Education Committee 2008-2013.
Books
- Svenska Pommern – kulturmöten och identifikation 1720-1815 ["Swedish Pomerania: Cultural Encounters and Identification 1720-1815"], Lund 2003 [dissertation] ISBN 91-974153-5-9 S, 560p.
- Mystiskt brödraskap – mäktigt nätverk: studier i det svenska 1700-talsfrimureriet ["Mystical brotherhood – powerful network: studies in Swedish 18th century freemasonry"], Ugglan, Minervaserien 12, Lund 2006 ISBN 91-975196-2-6
- Negotiating Europe: Foundations, Dynamics & Challenges, together with Anamaria Dutceac, Lund 2007 ISSN 1403-6754
Articles
- "Franc-maçonnerie et autres sociétés secrètes reliant les élites éclairées de France d´Allemagne et de Suède au XVIIIe siècle" ["Freemasonry and other secretive societies uniting the Enlightened elites of France, Germany and Sweden in the 18th century"] in Le prisme du Nord, (Ed. Michel Espagne). Editions Du Lérot, Tusson 2006, pp. 33-50.
- "Zur Kommunikationsstruktur des Ostseeraums in der frühen Neuzeit – grundlegende Aspekte des Ideentransfers" ["On the structure of communication within the Baltic Sea area during early modern times"] in Maritime Kultur und regionale Identitäten - Der südliche Ostseeraum, (Ed. L. Eichinger), Kiel 2005, pp. 125-140.
- "From Jacobite Support to a Part of the State Apparatus – Swedish Freemasonry between Reform and Revolution", in Franc-Maçonnerie et politique au siècle des Lumières: Europé-Amériques, Lumières No. 7, Bordeaux 2006, pp. 203-225.
- "Berättelser om den andre – ett fingerat samtal om det förmoderna Polen och Sverige på 1720-talet" ["Narratives on the Other: a fictive discourse on pre-modern Poland and Sweden during the 1720-ies" in Skandinavien och Polen: Möten, relationer och ömsesidig påverkan (Ed. Barbara Törnquist-Plewa) Slavica Lundensia 23 2007 pp. 295-321.
- "From Scientific Apprentice to multi-skilled Knowledge Worker: the change of PhD-education in the Nordic-Baltic Area" in European Journal of Education, Vol. 42, Issue 3, 2007 pp.321- 333.
- "Cosmopolitanism and what is 'Secret': Two Sides of Enlightened Ideas concerning World Citizenship" in The Idea of Cosmopolis: History, philosophy and politics of world citizenship (Ed. Rebecka Lettevall and My Klockar Linder), Södertörn Academic Studies 37, Södertörn 2008, pp. 65-86.
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