Public seminar on the history of epidemics at Estonian National Museum & Postimees
In the beginning of June I had the honour to speak at the Estonian National Museum at their public lecture day on epidemics, Jumala viha ja juudasitt. The public symposium was connected to the part of the permanent exhibition that speaks of health and disease in Estonian environmental history, which I once upon a time curated together with Liisi Jääts and the rest of the Estonian Centre for Environmental History, KAJAK. The epidemics section has for obvious reasons become popular over the last 1,5 years (I wrote about it once before), but 2021 was also 165 years from the first valioration in Tartu and 10 years from founding KAJAK, so the symposium was very timely. Apart from myself, the speakers lineup included soon-to-be president of Estonia but then the director of the Estonian National Museum, Alar Karis, curator of the environmental history section of the exhibition, Liisi Jääts, as well as Lea Leppik, Reet Hiiemäe and Ken Kalling - all researchers who have dedicated a considerable amount of their careers to studying Estonian medical history.
While we did quite extensive background research into different disease statistics, epidemics, treatment methods and public health campaigns on Estonian territory for the exhibition, I do not consider myself a major specialist in the field. My talk was more about wider history of ideas concerning disease and treatment which also provides the narrative roadmap for the exhibition from the folkloric disease conception, God’s will or miasmas to pathogen-based health care with sterilisation as an ideal. It also served as a popular reminder of how common epidemics have been here and how little traditional great herbalists could help in the event of an epidemic. Something which is increasingly forgotten, particularly among the new spirituality seekers. I also concentrated on the difference between biomedical, phenomenological and social definition of disease and the impact that the discrepancy between the three may have on how people react vis-a-vis epidemics and public health measures.
The talk and in fact the whole symposium can be watched at the website of the Estonian National Museum and parts of it were published in the Estonian daily Postimees. Which parts, I do not really know because the published version is behind the paywall and the public part includes the end of the manuscript I sent in. At least this time the title was not changed beyond recognition!
Public symposium on epidemic in Estonian history at Estonian National Museum.
