Editing Zachris Topelius (section)

==Life and career==
===Early life===

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]] in [[Ostrobothnia (administrative region)|Ostrobothnia]], the son of a physician of the same name ({{ill|Zacharias Topelius the Elder|fi|Zacharias Topelius vanhempi}}), who was distinguished as the earliest collector of Finnish folk songs.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=1|wstitle=Topelius, Zakris|last=Gosse|first=Edmund William|author-link=Edmund Gosse|volume=27|page=49}}</ref> His grandfather, [[Mikael Toppelius]], was a painter noted for his murals and altarpieces in churches in Ostrobothnia.{{Sfn|Schoolfield|1998|p=334}}

As a child, he heard his mother, Katarina Sofia Calamnius, sing the songs of the Finnish-Swedish poet [[Frans Michael Franzén]]. At the age of eleven, he was sent to school in [[Oulu]] and boarded with relatives in the possession of a lending library, where he nurtured his imagination with the reading of novels. He was given a Christian upbringing that came to characterize his entire life.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Boije |first=Erika|chapter=Inledning|title=Zacharias Topelius, Religiösa skrifter och psalmer|editor=Magnus Nylund|id=ZTS XIX, SSLS 867|location=Helsinki|publisher=Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland|chapter-url=https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:sls-8085-1609135499|year=2022|language=sv}}</ref>

===Study in Helsinki===

[[File:Johan Ludvig Runeberg and Zacharias Topelius, 1863.jpg|thumb|150px|Together with [[Johan Ludvig Runeberg]] in 1863]]

He came to [[Helsinki]] in 1831 and became a member of the circle of young nationalist men surrounding [[Johan Ludvig Runeberg]], at whose home he stayed for some time. Topelius became a student at the [[University of Helsinki|Imperial Alexander University of Finland]] in 1833, received his master's degree (''cand. philol.'') in 1840, the [[Licentiate (degree)|Licentiate]] degree in history in 1844 and his PhD 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 {{ill|Societas pro Fauna et Flora Fennica|fi}} 1842–1846, was employed by the university library 1846–1861, and taught History, Statistics and Swedish at the school {{ill|Helsingfors lyceum|fi}} during the same period.

===Becoming a professor===

Through the intervention of a friend, [[Fredrik Cygnaeus]], 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 (academia)|rector]] of the university from 1875 until 1878, when he retired as Emeritus Professor and received the title of ''verkligt statsråd'' (Finnish: todellinen valtioneuvos, Russian: действительный статский советник; literally "state councillor", a Russian honorary title).

[[File:Albert Edelfelt - Illustration of Adalmina’s Pearl - A II 1519-11 - Finnish National Gallery.jpg|thumb|150px|left|[[Albert Edelfelt]]'s illustration of ''Adalmina's Pearl'', a fairy tale by Topelius{{Citation needed|date=December 2022}}]]

===Focus on writing===

[[File:Koivu ja tähti.jpg|thumb|150px|The first page of Finnish-language ''The Birch and the Star'' (Koivu ja tähti) from 1893]]

Quite early in his career he began to distinguish himself as a lyric poet, with the three successive volumes of his ''Heather Blossoms'' (1845–54). The earliest of his historical romances was ''The Duchess of Finland'', published in 1850. He was also editor-in-chief of the {{ill|Helsingfors Tidningar|fi}} 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 and verse, 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 between 1853 and 1867. Topelius attempted to write drama, too, enjoying the most success with his tragedy ''Regina von Emmeritz'' (1854). Topelius aimed at the cultivation of a strong Finnish patriotism.<ref name="EB1911"/> He wrote a poem which [[Jean Sibelius]] used for a composition with a political statement, ''[[Islossningen i Uleå älv]]''.

Together with the composer [[Friedrich Pacius]], he wrote the [[libretto]] (in the style of [[Romantic nationalism]]) to the first Finnish opera: ''Kaarle-kuninkaan metsästys'' (Swedish: ''[[Kung Karls jakt]]'', English: ''King Charles' Hunt)''. 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]]'s ''[[Der Freischütz]]'' (1821) and ''[[Oberon (Weber)|Oberon]]'' (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 [[Prinsessan av Cypern (Pacius)|Fredrik Pacius]] and [[Prinsessan av Cypern (Larsson)|Lars-Erik Larsson]].

[[File:Topelius Grave 001.JPG|thumb|150px|left|Grave of Topelius at [[Hietaniemi Cemetery]] with 1905 sculpture ''Towards the Light'' by [[Walter Runeberg]]]]

===Death===

Topelius died in his [[manor house]] in Koivuniemi, Sipoo, Finland, where he wrote his greatest works.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/topelius.htm |title=Zachris Topelius |website=Books and Writers (kirjasto.sci.fi) |first=Petri |last=Liukkonen |publisher=[[Kuusankoski]] Public Library |location=Finland |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150221075501/http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/topelius.htm |archive-date=21 February 2015 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref> He is buried in the [[Hietaniemi Cemetery]] in [[Helsinki]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.helsinginseurakunnat.fi/material/attachments/hautausmaat/hietaniemi/w8GZkM0y7/Hietaniemen_merkittavia_vainajia.pdf|title=Hietaniemen hautausmaa – merkittäviä vainajia|publisher=Helsingin seurakuntayhtymä|access-date=2016-08-26}}</ref>