Christian Sibelius


Christian Sibelius was a Finnish doctor and professor of psychiatry.
Sibelius became a bachelor of arts in 1889 and a doctor of medicine in 1897, and in the same year became an associate professor of pathological anatomy at the University of Helsinki. He studied under Ernst Alexander Homén. His doctoral thesis, Bidrag till kännedomen om de histologiska förändringarna i ryggmärgen, de spinala rötterna och ganglierna vid progressiv paralysi, discussed both normal histological and pathological conditions, and demonstrated the relationship between paralysis and spinal cord damage. It placed him at once at the forefront of contemporary pathological anatomists.
His early scientific works include 'Till kännedomen om de efter amputationer uppkommande förändringarna i nervsystemet med speciell hänsyn till de spinokutana neuronerna' and 'Zur Kenntniss der Entwickelungsstörungen der Spinalganglienzellen bei hereditär-luetischen missbildeten und anscheinend normalen neugeborenen'. Research in Berlin from 1902 to 1905 produced 'Zur Kenntniss der Gehirnerkrankungen nach Kohlenoxydvergiftung' and 'Die psychischen Störungen nach akuter Kohlenoxydvergiftung'.
In 1904 he moved to the Lapinlahti mental hospital and began to conduct psychiatric research. He wrote 'Drei Falle von Caudaaffektionen' and 'Zur Kenntnis der Zweiteilung des Rückenmarkes '. He became associate professor of psychiatry in 1906 and a full professor in 1909. In 1921 he became a distinguished professor of the subject. Sibelius practised extensively in the field and was a proponent of healthcare reform. Under his leadership, the Finnish Psychiatric Association was founded in 1913. He served as its president.
Like his elder brother, the celebrated composer Jean Sibelius, he was a gifted chamber musician, and he performed with him in his youth. Sibelius was married to writer Kaino Ihanelma Swan, and they had four children. He is buried in the Hietaniemi Cemetery in Helsinki.