Anders Thiodolf Saelan (Sælan) (born 20 November 1834 in

Lappeenranta Lappeenranta (; sv, Villmanstrand) is a city and municipality in the region of South Karelia, about from the Russian border and from the town of Vyborg (''Viipuri''). It is situated on the shore of the Lake Saimaa in southeastern Finland, and ...

; died 24 June 1921 in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

) was a Finnish physician and botanist. He reformed Finnish

mental health care A mental health professional is a health care practitioner or social and human services provider who offers services for the purpose of improving an individual's mental health or to treat mental disorders. This broad category was developed as a ...

during his decades as chief physician of Lapinlahti Psychiatric Hospital in Helsinki.

Life and career

Saelan's parents were Anders Johan Saelan (1795–1841), pastor of

Jämsä Jämsä () is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the Central Finland region, about southwest of Jyväskylä. The municipality has a population of (), which make it the second largest town of the Central Finland after Jyväsk ...

, and Antoinette Henrietta Kristina Müller. He attended Porvoo Upper Secondary School (1844–1848) and Porvoo High School (1848–1851) and became a university student in 1851. Saelan graduated from the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku (in Swedish ''Åbo'') in 1640 as the ...

with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in physical mathematics in 1855 and a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in 1857. Saelan studied in Stockholm from 1860 to 1861. He became a

Bachelor of Medicine Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery ( la, Medicinae Baccalaureus, Baccalaureus Chirurgiae; abbreviated most commonly MBBS), is the primary medical degree awarded by medical schools in countries that follow the tradition of the United Ki ...

in 1859 and a licentiate and

Doctor of Medicine Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. T ...

and Surgery in 1865. He later became a Master of Joy (''Riemumaisteri'', an honorary degree awarded to those working for 50 years since receiving a master's degree) and Honorary Doctor of Philosophy in 1907 and a Doctor of Joy in 1917. Saelan was an amanuensis of the

University of Helsinki Botanical Garden The University of Helsinki Botanical Garden is an institution subordinate to the Finnish Museum of Natural History of the University of Helsinki, which maintains a collection of live plants for use in research and teaching. The Botanical Garden h ...

from 1859 to 1866, an additional doctor of the National Board of Medicine from 1861 to 1864, and an acting doctor from the

Tornio Tornio (; sv, Torneå; sme, Duortnus ; smn, Tuárnus) is a city and municipality in Lapland, Finland. The city forms a cross-border twin city together with Haparanda on the Swedish side. The municipality covers an area of , of which is ...

and Lapland districts as a from 1864 to 1865. Saelan worked at Lapinlahti Psychiatric Hospital as a

resident Resident may refer to: People and functions * Resident minister, a representative of a government in a foreign country * Resident (medicine), a stage of postgraduate medical training * Resident (pharmacy), a stage of postgraduate pharmaceuti ...

from 1865 to 1868 and as an attorney general from 1868 to 1904. His dissertation ''Om självmordet i Finland i statistiskt och rättsmedicinskt hänseende'' ("About suicide in Finland in statistical and forensic terms") was the first Finnish study to deal with suicides from a medical point of view. He was awarded the title of

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

in 1877. For several decades, he was Finland's most important expert in

psychiatry Psychiatry is the specialty (medicine), medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions. See glossary of psych ...

and

Botanical work

Saelan's other field was botany, where he was also one of the most important Finnish researchers of his time. He published more than 100 papers on the floristics (plant geography) of Finland. He was an avid botanist and spent much of his time in the Lapinlahti hospital park. Saelan, at the time a young graduate, collaborated with

William Nylander William Andrew Michael Junior Nylander Altelius (born 1 May 1996) is a Canadian-born Swedish professional ice hockey right winger for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL). Nylander was selected by the Maple Leafs in th ...

to publish ''Herbarium Musei fennici'' in 1859. This was a catalogue of the specimens in the herbarium of the botanical museum. Nylander wrote about the

cryptogam A cryptogam (scientific name Cryptogamae) is a plant (in the wide sense of the word) or a plant-like organism that reproduces by spores, without flowers or seeds. The name ''Cryptogamae'' () means "hidden reproduction", referring to the fact ...

s, while Saelen dealt with the

phanerogam A spermatophyte (; ), also known as phanerogam (taxon Phanerogamae) or phaenogam (taxon Phaenogamae), is any plant that produces seeds, hence the alternative name seed plant. Spermatophytes are a subset of the embryophytes or land plants. They inc ...

s. This catalogue listed 1,025 species of

vascular plant Vascular plants (), also called tracheophytes () or collectively Tracheophyta (), form a large group of land plants ( accepted known species) that have lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They ...

s, 333 mosses, 316 lichens, 71 algae, and 375

fungi A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from ...

. The moss genus '' Saelania'' is named in honour of Thiodolf Saelan.

Personal

Thiodolf Saelan was married in 1873 to Naema Lovisa Vivika von Knorring (1850–1920). They had four children: Gertrud Maria (1875–1911), Karl Thorvald (1878–1959), Eva Johanna Paersch (1883–1966), and Sigyn Naemi Lindberg (1888–1965). Karl Saelan was the technical director of the .

Selected works

* * * * *

References

Cited literature

* {{Authority control 1834 births 1921 deaths 19th-century Finnish botanists 20th-century Finnish botanists Finnish psychiatrists 19th-century Finnish physicians 20th-century Finnish physicians Swedish-speaking Finns People from Lappeenranta University of Helsinki alumni