Editing Zachris Topelius (section)

===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.