OUTSIDE THE OFFICE: In Search of the Vikings

Barbara Nylund, MD

I had to write a family history in the eighth grade and wrote to my “far mor” (Swedish paternal grandmother) to help me. She was born in the town of Visby on Gotland Island, off the southwest coast of Sweden. She told me that her uncle was the Lutheran bishop of Gotland and that her father was the military commander of the island’s fort.

My “far far” (paternal grandfather) was raised in Jakobstad, Finland. When my father was in his teens, my grandfather gave him The Tales of Ensign Stål, by Johan Runeberg, the national poet of Finland. My father gave the book to me when he thought I was old enough, and I will pass it on to my only living nephew. It is the epic poem of Finland.

I have searched for my father’s family roots for years. Despite it size (338,000 square kilometers), Finland has less than 5.5 million inhabitants, some 40 of whom are my father’s family. My dear cousins, Anna Britta and Nils Sundqvist, allowed me to live with them for several months in 1975 while I did an internal medicine rotation at Malmska Hospital in Jakobstad, whose Finnish name is Pietarsarri. All towns on the west coast of Finland have Swedish and Finnish names. Swedish is the predominant language, but Finnish is required at work. My cousins speak Swedish, Finnish, English, Spanish and French.

In September 2011, I returned to my father’s homeland via Belgium with my good friend, Wendy. After several days in Brussels, we were joined by an old friend from Vienna, Felicitas, with whom I had done medical relief work in Central America over 20 years ago. We all took the train to Bruges, one of the most perfectly preserved medieval cities in western Europe.

Wendy, who is an artist, led us to the Church of Our Lady (Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk), where the celebrated Madonna and Child sculpture is the only Michelangelo to have left Italy during the artist’s lifetime. Construction of the church itself began in the 1200s and continued for three centuries, with occasional renovations since then. The interior is Gothic, but there are Baroque flourishes to its statues and extravagant pulpit. The cathedral’s art collection includes “Supper at Emmaus,” a painting that was once ascribed to Caravaggio but is rather flat and uninspired when compared to true Caravaggios.

Bruges is also home to one of several beguinages found in the Low Countries. These communities were founded in the 13th century as sanctuaries for the many women (beguines) left single or widowed by the Crusades. Although a deeply pious residence, the beguinage was not a convent. The beguines could leave to marry. They could also take their inheritance to the beguine and work outside in the community.

From Belgium we traveled north to Sweden and Finland, spending time in both Visby and Jakobstad. Like Bruges, Visby is a well-preserved medieval town. It is surrounded by a long stone wall, and its skyline is dominated by the St. Nicolaus church ruin.

Farther north is Jakobstad, which was founded in 1652. Russians sacked the town twice in 1714. Despite the repeated drubbings, it became the leading shipping town in Finland during the 18th century. In 1844, Finland’s first round-the-world sailing expedition started from Jakobstad harbor. Today, Nautor, the manufacturer of the world’s most elegant, fastest production boat, the Swan, calls the port home.

Beyond Jakobstad, the countryside of Finland is forest and lakes and vast wilderness. There are more than 180,000 lakes and a nearly equal number of islands. The name Finland is thought to derive from fen (a swampy land), or from the French fin de lande, meaning “the end of the world.” For my father’s family, it was home.

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Dr. Nylund, a gastroenterologist in private practice in Novato, serves on the MMS board of directors.

Email: b.nylund@comcast.net