Zacharias Topelius
Encyclopedia
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
Finnish
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
, and rector
Rector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
of the University of Helsinki
University of Helsinki
The University of Helsinki is a university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but was founded in the city of Turku in 1640 as The Royal Academy of Turku, at that time part of the Swedish Empire. It is the oldest and largest university in Finland with the widest range of disciplines available...
who wrote novels
Historical novel
According to Encyclopædia Britannica, a historical novel is-Development:An early example of historical prose fiction is Luó Guànzhōng's 14th century Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which covers one of the most important periods of Chinese history and left a lasting impact on Chinese culture.The...
related to Finnish history in Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
.
Life and career
Zacharias is his baptismal name, and this is used on the covers of his printed works. However, "he himself most often used the abbreviation Z. or the form Zachris, even in official contexts", as explained in the National Biography of Finland. Zachris is therefore the preferred form used in recent academic literature about him.The original name of the Topelius family was the Finnish name Toppila which had been Latinized to Toppelius by the author's grandfather's grandfather and later changed to Topelius. Topelius was born at Kuddnäs, near Nykarleby
Nykarleby
Nykarleby is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Ostrobothnia region. The municipality is bilingual, with the majority speaking Swedish and the minority Finnish ....
in Ostrobothnia
Ostrobothnia (region)
Ostrobothnia is a region of Finland. It is located in Western Finland. It borders the regions Central Ostrobothnia, Southern Ostrobothnia, and Satakunta and is one of the four regions making up the historical province of Ostrobothnia....
, the son of a physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
of the same name (Zacharias Topelius the Elder), who was distinguished as the earliest collector of Finnish folk-songs. As a child he heard his mother, Katarina Sofia Calamnius, sing the songs of the Finnish-Swedish poet Franzén
Frans Michael Franzén
Frans Michael Franzén was a Swedish and Finnish poet.-Biography:Franzén was born in Oulu , Northern Ostrobothnia, Finland, which at the time was an integral part of Sweden. At thirteen he entered the Royal Academy of Turku, where he attended the lectures of Henrik Gabriel Porthan , a pioneer in...
. At the age of eleven, he was sent to school in Oulu
Oulu
Oulu is a city and municipality of inhabitants in the region of Northern Ostrobothnia, in Finland. It is the most populous city in Northern Finland and the sixth most populous city in the country. It is one of the northernmost larger cities in the world....
and boarded with relatives in the possession of a lending library, where he nurtured his fantasy with the reading of novels.
He came to Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
in 1831 and became a member of the circle of young nationalist men surrounding Johan Ludvig Runeberg
Johan Ludvig Runeberg
Johan Ludvig Runeberg was a Finnish poet, and is the national poet of Finland. He wrote in the Swedish language....
, in whose home he stayed for some time. Topelius became a student at the Imperial Alexander University of Finland
University of Helsinki
The University of Helsinki is a university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but was founded in the city of Turku in 1640 as The Royal Academy of Turku, at that time part of the Swedish Empire. It is the oldest and largest university in Finland with the widest range of disciplines available...
in 1833, received his master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
degree in 1840, the Licentiate
Licentiate
Licentiate is the title of a person who holds an academic degree called a licence. The term may derive from the Latin licentia docendi, meaning permission to teach. The term may also derive from the Latin licentia ad practicandum, which signified someone who held a certificate of competence to...
degree in 1844 and was made a doctor of philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
in 1847, having defended a dissertation titled De modo matrimonia jungendi apud fennos quondam vigente ("About the custom of marriage among the ancient Finns"). Besides history, his academic studies had for periods been devoted both to Theology and Medicine. He was secretary of Societas pro fauna et flora fennica 1842-1846, was employed by the university library 1846-1861, and taught History, Statistics and Swedish at the school Helsingfors lyceum during the same period.
Through the intervention of a friend, Fredrik Cygnæus, Topelius was named professor extraordinary of the History of Finland at the University in 1854. He was made first ordinary professor of Finnish, Russian and Nordic history in 1863, and exchanged this chair for the one in general history in 1876. He was rector
Rector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
of the university from 1875 until 1878, when he retired as Emeritus Professor and received the title of verkligt statsråd (Russian: действительный статский советник; literally "state councillor", a Russian honorary title).
Quite early in his career he began to distinguish himself as a lyric poet, with the three successive volumes of his Heather Blossoms (1845-1854). The earliest of his historical romances was The Duchess of Finland, published in 1850. He was also editor-in-chief of the Helsingfors Gazette from 1841 to 1860. In 1878, Topelius was allowed to withdraw from his professional duties, but this did not sever his connection with the university; it gave him, however, more leisure for his abundant and various literary enterprises. Of all the multifarious writings of Topelius, in prose
Prose
Prose is the most typical form of written language, applying ordinary grammatical structure and natural flow of speech rather than rhythmic structure...
and verse
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
, that which has enjoyed the greatest popularity is his Tales of a Barber-Surgeon, episodes of historical fiction from the days of Gustavus II. Adolphus to those of Gustavus III., treated in the manner of Sir Walter Scott; the five volumes of this work appeared at intervals between 1853 and 1867. Topelius attempted the drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
also, with most success in his tragedy of Regina van Emmeritz (1854). Topelius aimed at the cultivation of a strong Finnish patriotism
Patriotism
Patriotism is a devotion to one's country, excluding differences caused by the dependencies of the term's meaning upon context, geography and philosophy...
.
Together with the composer Friedrich Pacius he wrote the libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
(in the style of Romantic nationalism
Romantic nationalism
Romantic nationalism is the form of nationalism in which the state derives its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs...
) to the first Finnish opera: Kung Karls jakt
Kung Karls jakt
Kung Karls jakt is an opera with music by Fredrik Pacius and a libretto by Zacharias Topelius. It was the first opera to be composed in Finland. Kung Karls jakt was first performed in Helsinki on 24 March, 1852...
. Topelius initially thought of writing a trivial entertainment, but having heard extracts from the opera project at a concert in 1851, he realized that Pacius was writing a grand opera on the theme of salvation, following the early Romantic style of Carl Maria von Weber
Carl Maria von Weber
Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber was a German composer, conductor, pianist, guitarist and critic, one of the first significant composers of the Romantic school....
's Der Freischütz
Der Freischütz
Der Freischütz is an opera in three acts by Carl Maria von Weber with a libretto by Friedrich Kind. It premiered on 18 June 1821 at the Schauspielhaus Berlin...
(1821) and Oberon
Oberon (opera)
Oberon, or The Elf King's Oath is a 3-act romantic opera in English with spoken dialogue and music by Carl Maria von Weber. The libretto by James Robinson Planche was based on a German poem, Oberon, by Christoph Martin Wieland, which itself was based on the epic romance Huon de Bordeaux, a French...
(1826). Topelius wrote the libretto in Swedish (though it was translated later by others), but its subject is emphatically Finnish. He also wrote the libretto for Prinsessan av Cypern, set by Fredrik Pacius
Prinsessan av Cypern (Pacius)
Prinsessan av Cypern is a four-act fairy opera by Fredrik Pacius, with a Swedish libretto by Zacharias Topelius...
and Lars-Erik Larsson
Prinsessan av Cypern
Prinsessan av Cypern is an opera in four acts by Lars-Erik Larsson, with a Swedish libretto by Zacharias Topelius, first performed in Stockholm in 1937, but subsequently withdrawn by its composer.-Background:...
.
Many of his works employed esoterical allegories harking to ancient mysteries and perhaps rosicrucian and alchemical themes, but on the other hand some of his short works examined the effects of the strong industrialisation of Finnish society.
Topelius died in his manor house
Manor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...
of Koivuniemi
Koivuniemi
Koivuniemi is a manor house in Helsinki, Finland, designed by the architect Wilhelm Linsén and build in the mid 19th century. Koivuniemi has been the home of the Finnish writer and historian Zacharias Topelius which after his death returned to the previous owners and is to the present owned by the...
, in Sipoo
Sipoo
Sipoo is a municipality of Finland. Its seat is in Nikkilä/Nickby.It is the eastern neighbour of Helsinki and is located in the Uusimaa region. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of ofwhich is water...
, Finland, where he wrote his greatest works.
Books
- Boken om vårt land, 1875 (Maamme-kirja, Book of Our Land)
- Vinterqvällar, 1881 (Talvi-iltain tarinoita)
- Fältskärns berättelser, 1884 (Välskärin kertomukset)
- Läsning för barn, (Lukemisia lapsille)
- Stjärnornas kungabarn, 1899-1900 (Tähtien turvatit)
External links
- Biography at the Biographical Centre of the Finnish Literature Society
- Zacharias Topelius page at Kuusankoski Public Library
- Zacharias Topelius web site
- Works by Zacharias Topelius at Projekt Runeberg (Swedish)
- Zacharias Topelius Skrifter (In Swedish)