Before Zacharias Topelius could enter a university he had to complete his matriculation examination, which he did on June 5th, 1833. His grade of cum laude approbatur was decidedly average, and is perhaps best viewed as a testament of the lax attitude young Topelius had towards his studies and not of his potential. Topelius’ teacher, the Docent of Eloquence Johan Ludvig Runeberg, was not too strict about studying for the matriculation examination either. At this time Topelius seems to have been mainly occupied with running around town pelting the local bourgeois with snowballs and fighting with his flatmates.

Behind the snow fights in Kruununhaka street and the wine and hot toddies he drank in the cafes of the young capital were the first signs of a youth with an insatiable thirst for knowledge. During his school years in Oulu he had devoured novels in his aunt’s library at such a pace that his parents felt compelled to warn him of the dangers of excessive reading. Topelius paid no heed to these warnings, and his diaries are filled with references to famous authors who are still widely read today, such as Goethe, Schiller, Walter Scott, Fredrika Bremer and Carl Jonas Love Almqvist, but also to lesser-known greats such as Edward Bulwer-Lytton. Topelius also indulged himself with many classics, among them an Ancient Greek edition of the Iliad and Latin poetry by Virgil and Horace. His reading habits reflected both the demands of classical learning and the desire to keep up with popular contemporary prose.

Student nations were an inseparable part of university life in the 1830s, and immediately after his matriculation Topelius joined the Pohjalainen osakunta -nation. He joined their singing club as the second tenor and began participating in their meetings and parties, whether they were in honour of H. G. Porthan or simply to celebrate the ongoing semester. He was also quick to join the nation’s newspaper. His first foray into public speaking took place at the anniversary of the nation in 1840. For Topelius the nation was an important intellectual arena, public forum and training ground for civic duties in his student days.

A graduate degree required diverse studies. When in 1840 Topelius wanted to graduate as a Master of Arts he had to take oral exams given by as many as ten examiners in eleven different subjects. He went on to pass the examinations on physics, astronomy, mathematics, chemistry, botany and zoology, history, Greek literature, Oriental literature, poetics and eloquence, history of science, and philosophy. After these tribulations on May 12th, in Latin and in the presence of all the examiners, Topelius was granted his degree with the grade admodum dignus, “absolutely worthy [of graduating]”.

Sources and selected literature

• Nyberg, Paul. 1949. Zachris Topelius. En biografisk skildring (‘A biographical depiction’). Helsinki: Söderströms.
• Topelius, Zacharias. 1922. Självbiografiska anteckningar (‘Autobiographical notes’), ed. by Paul Nyberg. Helsinki: Schiildts.
• Topelius, Zacharias. 2010. Ljungblommor (‘Heather flowers’), ed. by Carola Herberts in collaboration with Clas Zilliacus. Zacharias Topelias Skifter I, SSLS 742. Helsinki: Society for Swedish Literature in Finland.
• Topelias, Zacharias. 2011. Finland framställdt i teckningar (‘Finnish Scenery in Drawings’), ed. by Jens Grandell and Rainer Knapas. Zacharias Topelias Skifter XII, SSLS 747. Helsinki: Society for Swedish Literature in Finland.
• Topelias, Zacharias. 2012. Novellar (‘Short stories’), ed. by Pia Forssell. Zacharias Topelias Skifter IV, SSLS 740. Helsinki: Society for Swedish Literature in Finland.
• Topelias, Zacharias. 2013. Hertiginnan af Finland och andra historiska noveller (‘The Duchess of Finland and other stories’), ed. by Pia Forssell. Zacharias Topelias Skifter V, SSLS 782. Helsinki: Society for Swedish Literature in Finland.
• Vasenius, Valfrid. Zacharias Topelius. Hans lif och skaldegärning I–VI (‘His life and poetry I–VI’). Helsinki: Edlunds  I–III (1912–1918), Schildts IV–VI (1924–30) and Stockholm: Bonniers I–V (1913–1927).