Johan Jakob Tengström, the son of a parson from a clerical family, enrolled at the Imperial Academy of Turku in 1803. After spending the years 1804-06 studying abroad in Uppsala, he graduated as a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy in 1809.

At the conferment ceremony the following year, Tengström was granted a master’s degree by the Professor of History and Morals, Frans Michael Franzén. At the time it was not possible to complete a degree higher than a master’s at the Faculty of Philosophy, so the graduates were automatically granted doctorates in philosophy. In 1811, Tengström was appointed docent in the history of literature as well as special library assistant at the Academy of Turku library.

Tengström spent the years 1817-19 on a study trip with his cousin Johan Magnus af Tengström in Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Italy and France. After returning to Finland, he functioned as acting professor of the history of science and learning from 1822 to 1825. In 1827, he was appointed professor of Practical Philosophy, only a week before the Great Fire of Turku. When the University moved to Helsinki, the professorships of philosophy were combined. Tengström was thereafter the professor of both practical and theoretical philosophy until his retirement in 1848.

Tengström received not a single vote from the governing body of the University, the Consistorium, for his candidacy for professor in 1827, but he was nonetheless appointed owing to external political pressure. He strove for a multidisciplinary approach in his studies, combining philology, philosophy and history. However, this approach was poorly understood at the time, and his academic achievements were not greatly appreciated by his contemporaries.

The reason for Tengström’s appointment as professor was his expertise in political philosophy. He also distinguished himself in training highly skilled public officials.

Although Tengström was not greatly esteemed as a philosopher, the merits of his historical works are beyond dispute. He has even been heralded the finest Finnish historian of his time. Of particular value today are his publications based on sources that perished in the Great Fire of Turku.

Sources

• Tarja-Liisa Luukkanen, Tengström, Johan Jakob, Kansallisbiografia-verkkojulkaisu (‘National biography, online publication’). Accessed September 4th, 2015. Available for free on Nelliportaali.fi.
• Yrjö Kotivuori, Ylioppilasmatrikkeli 1640–1852: Johan Jakob Tengström (’University register 1640-1852’) Online publication 2005. Accessed on September 4th, 2015.
• Joachim Mickwitz, Tengström, Johan Jakob, Filosofia.fi-online publication. Accessed on September 4th, 2015.
• Johan Jakob Tengström, Wikipedia article. Accessed on September 4th, 2015.