Statens institut för rasbiologi (SIFR, Swedish: The State Institute for Racial Biology

Scientific racism

Scientific racism is the use of scientific techniques and hypotheses to sanction the belief in racial superiority or racism.This is not the same as using scientific findings and the scientific method to investigate differences among the humans and argue that there are races...

) was a Swedish governmental research institute

Research institute

A research institute is an establishment endowed for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research...

 founded in 1922 with the stated purpose of studying eugenics

Eugenics

Eugenics is the "applied science or the bio-social movement which advocates the use of practices aimed at improving the genetic composition of a population", usually referring to human populations. The origins of the concept of eugenics began with certain interpretations of Mendelian inheritance,...

 and human genetics

Genetics

Genetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of genes, heredity, and variation in living organisms....

. It was located in Uppsala

Uppsala

- Economy :Today Uppsala is well established in medical research and recognized for its leading position in biotechnology.*Abbott Medical Optics *GE Healthcare*Pfizer *Phadia, an offshoot of Pharmacia*Fresenius*Q-Med...

 and as a governmental agency, it was the world’s first of its kind. In 1958, it was replaced by the Institute for Medical Genetics (Institutionen för medicinisk genetik) and is today incorporated as a department of Uppsala University

Uppsala University

Uppsala University is a research university in Uppsala, Sweden, and is the oldest university in Scandinavia, founded in 1477. It consistently ranks among the best universities in Northern Europe in international rankings and is generally considered one of the most prestigious institutions of...

. Its first head was Herman Lundborg.

History

After its founding in 1922, it continued under the leadership of Herman Lundborg. In 1926, studies conducted by the institute provided a basis for Lundborg's upper secondary school textbook 'Swedish Racial Studies'. However, Lundborg became increasingly anti-semitic which put him at odds with the Swedish Government during a time when tensions were growing between Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 and Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. In 1936, he was replaced by Gunnar Dahlberg. In the 1950s it was integrated into Uppsala University, and is today the university's genetic center.

The Institute became associated with a forced sterilization program which affected 63,000 people and continued until 1975.

The official assignment of the Swedish institute was to study the inhabitants of the country from a racial perspective. They studied the life conditions and environmental developments of different families. They tried to explain the effect biological heritage and the environment has on people. They also studied mental illnesses, alcoholism

Alcoholism

Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...

 and criminality.
Svenska sällskapet för rashygien (Swedish Society for Eugenics) was founded in 1909 and paved the way for SIFR. Its mission statement was to study eugenics

Eugenics

Eugenics is the "applied science or the bio-social movement which advocates the use of practices aimed at improving the genetic composition of a population", usually referring to human populations. The origins of the concept of eugenics began with certain interpretations of Mendelian inheritance,...

. Svenska sällskapet för rashygien, and eugenics in general, didn’t gain ground until after World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. In 1918 the society travelled around Sweden with an exhibit called “Folktyputställning” ("Exhibition about types of people"). The same year Frithiof Lennemalm, the headmaster of Karolinska Institutet

Karolinska Institutet

Karolinska institutet is a medical university in Solna within the Stockholm urban area, Sweden, and one of Europe's largest medical universities...

 proposed that the Nobel Foundation

Nobel Foundation

The Nobel Foundation is a private institution founded on 29 June 1900 to manage the finances and administration of the Nobel Prizes. The Foundation is based on the last will of Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite....

finance an institute for race biology. The Nobel committee for medicine voted unanimously in favour of the proposal. The staff of Karolinska Institutet voted against it with a very thin margin (9 against 8). Instead it was proposed that the Swedish state found and finance such an institute.