Centre into Freemasonry

Vanochtend werd per nieuwsbrief bekend gemaakt dat Andreas Önnerfors op 1 oktober tot directeur van het Centre for Research into Freemasonry aan de Universiteit van Sheffield werd benoemd. Zijn voorganger, de indrukwekkende Andrew Prescott, was in maart 2007 benoemd tot bibliothecaris aan de Universiteit van Lampeter, Wales. Sindsdien stond zijn stoel vacant. Tijdens het congres in Edinburgh, en vooral dan tijdens het fameuze galadiner (zie eerdere post), viel het mij op dat zowat iedereen wel voor die positie wou kandideren. Sommigen zagen zich al benoemd... In ieder geval wens ik Andreas heel veel succes bij deze nieuwe uitdaging. Even een kort bio'tje:


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.