Maximilian Theodor (Max) Buch (29 August 1850

Räpina Räpina ( vro, Räpinä, german: Rappin) is a town in Põlva County, Estonia. Räpina was administrative centre of Räpina raion from 1950 until 1961, currently it is the administrative centre of Räpina Parish. The oldest commercial enterpri ...

, Livonian Governorate, Russian Empire – 6 January 1920 Lappeenranta, Finland) was a Baltic German-born Finnish physician, ethnographer,

court councillor The Russian court councillor (russian: надворный советник) was a civilian rank of the 7th class in the Table of Ranks. Table of Ranks The Table of Ranks was a system of ranks that tied a person's social standing to service in th ...

, Finnish nationalist, and advocate of

public education State schools (in England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand) or public schools (Scottish English and North American English) are generally primary or secondary schools that educate all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in pa ...

. His extensive literary production is mainly in German, but he also published in Swedish and Russian.

Scientific studies

He made ethnographic observations among the Udmurts (Votyaks) and published the study ''Die Wotjäken: Eine Ethnologische Studie'' in 1882. He also wrote on Estonian folk religion.

Scientific theories

Buch is also noted for his controversial studies in curing

alcoholism Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol (drug), alcohol that results in significant Mental health, mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognize ...

by means of

strychnine Strychnine (, , US chiefly ) is a highly toxic, colorless, bitter, crystalline alkaloid used as a pesticide, particularly for killing small vertebrates such as birds and rodents. Strychnine, when inhaled, swallowed, or absorbed through the eye ...

Public education

Buch authored the pamphlet, ''Finnland und seine Nationalitätenfrage'' ("Finland and Her Nationality Question"), in which he detailed the low availability of schooling and the emphasis of a Swedish language on Finns. In a summary by

Peter Kropotkin Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin (; russian: link=no, Пётр Алексе́евич Кропо́ткин ; 9 December 1842 – 8 February 1921) was a Russian anarchist, socialist, revolutionary, historian, scientist, philosopher, and activis ...

, "Out of 300,000 children of school age in 1881, only 26,900 received instruction in 576 permanent schools, of which 134 were Swedish."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buch, Maximilian Theodor Finnish people of Baltic German descent 19th-century Finnish physicians 20th-century Finnish physicians Finnish nationalists Finnish ethnographers 1920 deaths 1850 births People from Räpina