Jakob Johan Wilhelm Lagus was born in Turku in 1821. The atmosphere in his home town, as well as his father’s job description at the university, first as an assistant and later as a professor, guided Lagus’s career into science.

Before entering the university, Lagus studied under some well-known scholars of his time. In the 1830s his teacher was Georg August Wallin. The year before he went to university, he moved to Porvoo and was an upper secondary student under an old family friend, Johan Ludvig Runeberg. He also carried out a university degree in Porvoo. In the university, as was the custom at the time, he read a number of different subjects, including the classic languages (Latin and Greek), Arabic, Hebrew, history, literature, and aesthetics. Lagus completed his degree in 1844 and only a few years later he graduated as the ultimustohtori, or the graduate with the second best average grade in the doctoral promotion ceremony.

Lagus worked as a library assistant during his studies, but beyond this he had trouble getting into the university. In 1848 he applied for an assistant’s position in Greek and Roman literature but he did not get it. A professorship in Eloquence and Poetics also remained a dream. He did, however, receive money from the university for research trips. A journey to the Black Sea region and Austria lasted four years, during which time Lagus studied the Scythians with the aim of connecting the ancient Greeks and Finns. Lagus published the results of the research trip in several languages and works. Although Lagus’s starting point may seem strange to Finns today, the content of his research was in many ways ahead of its time. Among other things, he drew attention to the cuneiform writing system.

Lagus’s bad luck at obtaining a university post seemed to continue. In the 1850s there was an unexpected opening for a professor of Oriental literature. Despite the fact that Lagus made an application based on his research of the Turkish language, he still did not get the position. But his luck turned due to a tragic event: Herman Kellgren, who had been granted the professorship, passed away in the autumn of 1856 and this caused a chain reaction which led to Lagus being appointed as professor based on his earlier application. Ten years later he was also appointed Professor of Greek Literature.

As a researcher, Lagus first studied languages, especially Arabic and Persian, which were part of the subject of a professor of Oriental literature. He published grammars of both languages. Later, his research interests centred more on the education and cultural history of his domestic soil, as well as his estate.

After retiring from his professorship, Lagus continued writing and participated more actively in various scientific and artistic societies. He was involved in the Society of Swedish Literature in Finland from the start and through it he was able to put out many works, including the Royal Academy of Turku’s academic register, which had been destroyed in the Great Fire of 1827. In his later years he moved to Lohja, which made it more difficult to participate in the activities of societies. Wilhelm Lagus died in Lohja in 1909.