| Ossian Schauman | |
|---|---|
| Born | 30 March 1862 Jakobstad, Finland |
| Died | 6 February 1922 (aged 59) Helsingfors, Finland |
| Occupation | scientist |
| Spouse | Betsy Lerche (24 March 1869 - 2 November 1941) |
Ossian Schauman was the founder of the Swedish-speaking non-governmental organization Folkhälsan, which provides social welfare and health care services in Finland. He was also the younger brother of Wilhelm Schauman.
Ossian Schauman was born on 30 March 1862 in Jakobstad to the pharmacist and businessman Victor Schauman and his wife Elise Wilhelmina Schauman (née Ekelund), who had 13 children in total. The father died of heart failure before the age of 50, when Ossian Schaumen was only 10 years old. There seems to have been a genetic heart defect running in the family, since both Ossian Schauman and several of his brothers also died before they had turned 60 years old.
He displayed an interest in botany already at an early age, and could often be found tending to plants in the garden. In 1872 Ossian Schauman was admitted to the Wasa Lyceum (high school) at the age of 10. This was also the year in which his father died, which devastated Ossian and the rest of the family. When Schauman graduates from the high school in 1879 at the age of 17, he moves to Helsinki to continue his studies at the university. In 1888 he graduates with a first medical degree, and in 1894 he becomes an M.D. in internal medicin. In 1897 he becomes assistant professor in medicin and then finally in 1908 professor in internal medicin at the University of Helsinki.