Honouring and Losing Knowledge: Folk Medicine Collection of the Estonian Museum of Hygiene in the Early 20th Century

Abstract

Before the Estonian Museum of Hygiene was founded in 1922, a medical student, the later director of the Museum, Voldemar Sumberg (1893–1965), published an article Rahwa-meditsiin ja arstiteadus (Folk medicine and medical science) in the popular magazine Tervis (Health)1. In the article he explained the principles of understanding and collecting folk medicine and advocated bringing folk medicine and modern medicine closer together. In May 1925, the Estonian Museum of Hygiene, under Sumberg’s lead, distributed their questionnaire Asuge rahva-arstiteaduse korjamisele (Start to collect folk medicine) to doctors and veterinary doctors, schools, etc.