Studies in the University meant delving into a great number of interesting subjects from philosophy to classical literature, but also getting to know talented people. As president of the subject organisation for students of art history, Eidos, I often sat in the new student house in Mannerheim street planning activities and tapping away on a typewriter to produce copy for the organisation’s magazine.

The high points of the art history department were the annual excursions to various places in Finland. Churches and manor houses were thoroughly visited. Now and then study trips were made beyond the Finnish borders. The trip to northern Italy led by Professor Henrik Lilius took us from Milan to Rome, with many stops between. We saw stunning architecture and got a taste for Averna. Meanwhile, the Berlin Wall was coming down. We heard about it on the train.

The years in the University came to a climax with the doctoral degree ceremony for doctorands, the promootio. I wore my sword with pride, the one that had belonged to my grandfather, Professor Lars Pettersson. I particularly recall the moment after the aubade, the address to the rising sun. Senate Square was bathed in light as my eyes grew weary. Someone magicked a football into existence, which the graduates, in their white ball-gowns, and the young men sporting their tails, began to kick around. The setting couldn’t have been better!