Research output per year
Research output per year
Layman's Death. Death certification by Ligsynsmænd in rural Denmark, 1871-1920
In 1832, certification of death was made mandatory before a corpse could be buried in Denmark. Ideally, physicians were to conduct post mortem examinations to provide a reliable cause of death. However, in the period up until the early 20th century there were not enough doctors in Denmark outside the cities, so in the countryside laymen (ligsynsmænd) were appointed to issue death certificates. Because ligsynsmænd were not medically trained, health authorities never fully trusted the causes of death from these certificates, and they were entirely omitted from the contemporary mortality statistics until 1920. Thus very little is known about who these lay postmortem examiners were, and how the system functioned. It also meant that Denmark had a late start in systematically gathering knowledge of causes of death in rural areas compared to other countries. This project will a )examine the history of lay registration, and explore transcribed rural death certificates using digital methods to bring to light b) differences in rural and urban death causes and c) age and sex specific mortality patterns in rural Denmark 1871-1919.
Supervisor: Anne Løkke, Copenhagen University
Co-supervisor: Barbara Revuelta-Eugercios, The Danish National Archives
History, MA, University of Copenhagen
… → Jun 2022
Research assistant, Link-Lives, Rigsarkivet
Jun 2022 → Aug 2023
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Communication
Anna Lodberg Sparre (Speaker)
Activity: Talk or presentation types › Lecture and oral contribution
Anna Lodberg Sparre (Member)
Activity: Membership types › Membership in research network
Anna Lodberg Sparre (Speaker), Lise Bødtker Sunde (Speaker), Anne Løkke (Other), Asbjørn Romvig Thomsen (Other), Nicolai Rask Mathiesen (Other) & Barbara Ana Revuelta Eugercios (Other)
Activity: Talk or presentation types › Lecture and oral contribution
Barbara Ana Revuelta Eugercios (Speaker), Asbjørn Romvig Thomsen (Other), Nicolai Rask Mathiesen (Other), Anne Løkke (Other), Olivia Robinson (Other), Lise Bødtker Sunde (Other), Anna Lodberg Sparre (Other) & Line Hjorth-Moritzsen (Other)
Activity: Talk or presentation types › Lecture and oral contribution