An honorary president and former chairman of the Swedish Zionist Federation, Valentin authored numerous works on Jewish history, antisemitism, and Zionism,[2] part of which has been translated into English.

[5] In 1919, Valentin moved to with his wife Fanny Schiöler to Falun, where he took up a position as a lecturer at the Falu högre allmänna läroverk, a role he would hold for the next ten years.

In October 1942, Valentin wrote a well-documented article in the influential daily newspaper Göteborgs Handels- och Sjöfartstidning, summarising available facts and mentioning the murder of 700,000 Jews in Poland by the Nazis.

[1] His daughter Mirjam (1920-1996) became a psychologist and child-rearing expert who co-authored the influential book "Det finns inga elaka barn" (There Are No Evil Children) in 1946 with her husband, Joachim Israel.

The renaming drew international criticism, including from historians Jan Grabowski and Christopher Browning, who argued in an open letter that removing Hugo Valentin’s name weakened the centre’s historical connection to Jewish history and Holocaust studies.

[17] Aron Verständig, Chair of the Swedish Jewish Central Council, called the decision a negative signal, particularly in a time of rising antisemitism.

[18] Uppsala University representatives defended the change, stating that the new name clarified the centre’s focus on Holocaust and genocide studies without altering its research mission.