Ilona Pajari, Finland
Dr. Ilona Pajari (née Kemppainen) is a social historian of Finnish death, its rituals and social contexts in war and peace.
Her research topics range from war death to death notices and from manner guides’ etiquette instructions to cemetery design.
Pajari is the founding member and present Chair of the Finnish Death Studies Association and a co-editor of ‘Thanatos’, a peer-reviewed online journal that promotes interdisciplinary research on death and dying.
Her latest study considers secular burials in Finland from the beginning of the 20th century to the present. Pajari is an independent historian.