Elias Fries

1794-1878.

Botanist, mycologist.

Elias Fries came from Femsjö in Småland and was the son of the minister Thore Fries and Sara Elisabeth Wernelin. He became one of the leading figures in mycology, producing writings that are still of scientific importance today.

Fries originally studied at Lund University and became an associate professor of botany at the age of 20.

He later moved to Uppsala University and in 1851 became Professor of Practical Economics and Botany. He was also prefect of the botanical garden and museum there.

Fries was particularly interested in the study of fungi, but his research touched on all areas of botany. His most influential work was Systema mycologicum, which was Fries' plant systematics work on fungi. Other mycological works were Elenchusfungorum and Hymenomycetes europaei.

Fries promoted the use of mushrooms as food, through the poster Sweden's edible and poisonous mushrooms. The interest in mycology was passed on to several of the children. For example, his son and daughter, Elias Petrus and Susanna (Sanna) Christina, drew several mushroom plates, several of which are preserved in Uppsala.

Fries also published the popular science essays Botaniska utflygter (1-3, 1843-1864).

In addition to being a university rector, Elias Fries was also a member of parliament and became a member of the Swedish Academy in 1847.

Title page from Elias Fries "Sveriges Ätliga och Giftiga Svampar", Norstedt & Söner, Stockholm, 1860. Photo: Bukowskis Auktioner AB.

Spread from Elias Fries "Sveriges Ätliga och Giftiga Svampar", Norstedt & Söner, Stockholm, 1860. Photo: Bukowskis Auktioner AB.

Burial site: 0103-0185

Image description: Elias Fries, Uppsala 1860s. Photo: UUBThe image is cropped]
Click here for an uncropped image

 

 

Anita Nathorst

1894-1941.

Theologian, author.

Anita Nathorst was active in the Christian student and high school movement and a friend of Karin Boye, who called her her 'spiritual mother'. Boye had a love for her, but it was an unrequited love.

Nathorst studied in Uppsala and became the first female theol.lic. in church history. Her collection of poems was published in 1926.

Nathorst was diagnosed with breast cancer at an early age and was treated by the doctor Iwan Bratt in Alingsås. They began a love affair in the mid-1930s. However, the love affair ended and Nathorst bought an apartment in Skåne. Until it was vacant, it was a difficult time for her in Bratt's home and Karin Boye acted as a support for her.

Anita Nathorst died in Malmö nursing home in the summer of 1941, just a few months after Karin Boye.

The following poem, written by Karin Boye, is called "Hur kan jag säga..." (How can I say...) and is included in the posthumously published collection De sju dödssynderna och andra efterlämnade dikter. The collection was published in 1941 and the poem is addressed to Anita.

How can I tell if your voice is beautiful.
I just know, that it penetrates me
and will make me tremble like a leaf
and tear me apart and blow me up.
What do I know about your skin and your limbs.
It just shakes me that they are yours,
so that for me there is no sleep and rest,
until they are mine.


Burial site: 0101-0051

Image description: Anita Nathorst, year unknown. Photo: Unknown photographer / From private collection [The image is cropped]
Click here for an uncropped image

 

 

Elsa Eschelsson

1861-1911.

Lawyer, Sweden's first female doctor of law.

Elsa Eschelsson was born in a wealthy home in Norrköping in 1861. After the death of her mother, five-year-old Elsa moved with her father to Stockholm.

Eschelsson was taught at home and learned Latin, among other things, entirely on her own. In 1882 she took her matriculation exam with high marks.

She continued her studies in Uppsala and later became the first female doctor and associate professor of law. However, she had to fight hard to obtain positions, not least as acting professor, as that position could not yet be granted to a woman.

She was involved in the establishment of the Association of Educated Women (1904), which campaigned for women's right to hold senior government posts.

The academic struggles took a toll on her strength and after a supposed overdose of sleeping pills, Elsa Eschelsson died on March 10, 1911.

The funeral in Uppsala Cathedral was officiated by Professor Einar Billing who spoke about "the injustice of this world".

 

Burial site: 0137-1550

Image description: Elsa Eschelsson, 1883. Photo: Heinrich Osti / UUBThe image is cropped]
Click here for an uncropped image

 

 

Erik Gustaf Geijer

1783-1847.

Historian, philosopher, author and composer.

Erik Gustaf Geijer, one of Uppsala's greatest cultural personalities of all time, was born in Ransäter in Värmland and came to Uppsala as a student in 1799. As an informant, he spent 1809-1810 in England where he carefully observed social and cultural life.

Geijer's understanding of the intellectuals' criticism increased during a trip to Germany in 1825, and he began to take a more realistic approach to the fantasies of Romanticism. He expressed this in Minnen (1834).

Geijer realized the importance of the middle class in society and the legitimacy of its demands for freedom, and as a result of the changed social analysis there was a political reorientation away from conservatism. He announced this 'apostasy' in 1838.

Geijer's ability to see and formulate the essential contexts of his time made him a strong voice in opinion-forming. Among his most significant works are Svea Rikes hävder (1825), which depicts Sweden's oldest history, and History of the Swedish People (1832-1836).

Geijer was a brilliant lecturer, a profound scholar and one of the leaders of the literary circles in Uppsala in the 1830s. He was also at the center of musical life, composing songs, piano sonatas, string quartets and other instrumental music.

Erik Gustaf Geijer was a professor of history from 1817 to 1847 and became a member of the Swedish Academy in 1824. He lived at Svartbäcksgatan 17 and then moved to Övre Slottsgatan 2. In 1846 Geijer moved to Stockholm.

The following is taken from the poem "Natthimmelen" from Samlade skrifter, Band 1-13 1849-1855.

Alone I progress on my path,
longer and longer the road stretches;
Alas, my goal is hidden in the distance.
Daylight is fading. Space becomes nocturnal.
Soon only the eternal stars I see.

But I do not complain about the day,
I am not dismayed by the coming night;
for of the love that goes through the world,
a streak also fell into my soul.

 

Burial site: 0104-0248

Image description: Erik Gustaf Geijer, lithograph from the 1840s. Photo: Wikimedia Commons. [The image is cropped]
Click here for an uncropped image