Olof Verelius

1618-1682.

Ancient scholar, philologist.

After studying in Dorpat and Uppsala, Olof Verelius worked as a teacher in noble families and traveled to Holland, Switzerland, Italy and France.

In 1653, Verelius was appointed Master of the Academy in Uppsala and became a member of Olof Rudbeck's circle of scholars. At the latter's suggestion, Verelius was awarded the newly established professorship in "Antiquities of the Fatherland" in 1662, as the country's first archaeology professor.

The following year, Verelius carried out the first archaeological excavation in Sweden, which took place in a burial mound at Broby in Börje parish.

In the 1670s, he had a house built at the Kamphavet quarter, which was located on what is now Martin Luther King's plan, a building that was probably designed by his friend Olof Rudbeck.

Verelius was also a prominent linguist and published Icelandic sagas and a work on runes.

In the dispute with Schefferus about the location of the so-called pagan temple, Verelius claimed that it was located in Old Uppsala and not on the site of the cathedral as Schefferus claimed.

Olof Verelius was the first to acquire a Burial site at the Hospital and Poor Cemetery, which has existed since the middle of the 17th century, on the site now known as the Old Cemetery.

The cemetery was purchased by the hospital board on October 26, 1676 and is the oldest known in the original Poor Law Cemetery.

The first known burial took place on February 9, 1682, when Olof Verelius was buried in a tomb that is still preserved. Olof Rudbeck carried out the burial according to Verelius' wishes.

 

Burial site: 0112-0615

Image description: Olof Verelius, lithograph by Otto Henrik Wallgren. Photo: Wikimedia Commons. [The image is cropped]
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Adolph Törneros

1794-1839.

Author, humanist, philologist.

Adolph Törneros was born in Eskilstuna on Christmas Eve 1794. At the age of 12 he began to earn a living as a private tutor and was enrolled at Uppsala University in 1812, later becoming professor of aesthetics in 1829 and of Latin in 1832.

Törneros spent most of his life as an academic teacher of Latin and in the literary circle of Geijer and Atterbom, who were among his closest friends.

Törneros is one of the foremost letter-writers in Swedish literature and was one of the foremost travel writers of his time. From the city of learning, Törneros longed every spring for the countryside, where from spring to autumn equinox, in his many letters, he described the impressions of his travels in the central Swedish summer landscape around Lake Mälaren.

The landscapes and environments are drawn with great detail, and the adventures and hardships are described in particularly lively and vivid language. In a letter to his mother dated December 29, 1828, he describes his walk from his home to the Geijer family at half past six on Christmas Eve 1828:

 

"The snow creaked harshly under the galoshes - a twenty-degree chill bit like a shark at the tip of the nose and earlobes and fingertips - the starry sky stared down with grim eyes over the earth, which was dressed in white as if for the weekend - Orion, just climbed out of the southeast, sparkled so that one seemed to hear it - the moon [sic] was still lying and tumbling in the tidal waters, but splashed up unseen a cascade of rays."

Adolph Törneros was described as outwardly gangly, with a slender birdlike profile. His friend Atterbom found "in the quick mobility of the figure and the flying speed of the gait, an unmistakable impression of a bird".

Törneros spent his last Christmas with the Atterbom family. Törneros then fell ill and died at home three weeks later of what was described as a form of typhus. Geijer said:

 

"He had too little ballast, so he flew away from us".

 

Burial site: 0112-0557

Image description: Portrait of Adolph Törneros. Unknown master, oil painting from the 1830s. Photo: UUBThe image is cropped]
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