She made Linnaeus’s letters her life’s work

The news she received – that she had been appointed an Honorary Doctor at the Faculty of Medicine at Uppsala University – may have come as a shock, but it rests on decades of patient and internationally recognised work in the history of medicine and scientific cultural heritage.

“I was, of course, very happy and honoured, but it took some time before it really sank in,” says Eva Nyström.

An invaluable contribution to the history of medicine

The appointment as Honorary Doctor is based on work extending over more than half a century, during which Eva Nyström has played a central role in highlighting the cultural heritage of the Faculty of Medicine and the University.

“Eva’s contributions are on a level comparable to those of a professor in terms of publications and significance,” says Torsten Gordh, Professor Emeritus at the Department of Medical Sciences and degree conferrer. “She has devoted an enormous amount of effort, often behind the scenes, but crucial for making knowledge accessible.”

He particularly highlights her work on making Carl Linnaeus’s extensive correspondence available – around 6,000 letters that reflect the emergence of a European, and in practice global, scientific community during the eighteenth century.

“Thanks to Eva and her colleagues, this correspondence is now accessible to researchers and the general public worldwide. It is an invaluable contribution, both to the history of medicine and to Uppsala University.”

From history of science and ideas to medical history

Eva Nyström’s path into the history of medicine did not begin in laboratories or lecture halls devoted to medicine. She completed a bachelor’s degree with history of science and ideas as her main subject in the early 1970s, with her sights set on a future as a librarian.

“I absolutely loved working at the city library during the summers, and for a long time I thought that was where I belonged,” she says.

But her future took a different turn. After the opposition to her undergraduate thesis, the Professor of History of Science and Ideas, Sten Lindroth, suggested something that would change her direction. At his urging and encouragement, she began writing a doctoral thesis on Swedish physicians’ study trips to the Netherlands during the eighteenth century – work that opened the door to the intellectual and knowledge history of medicine. This was followed by teaching at Stockholm University and a research project on disease classifications and cause-of-death statistics, which resulted in the book “Hälsa, sjukdom, dödsorsak” (Health, Sickness, Cause-of-Death”.

The Linnaeus letters – a life’s work

However, it is her work on Linnaeus’s correspondence that has become Eva Nyström’s most extensive and long-running contribution, in which she has acted as a research editor. The project gained real momentum in the mid-1990s and involves around 6,000 letters to and from Carl Linnaeus. The material reflects not only botany, but the entire development of medical and natural scientific knowledge during the eighteenth century.

“It is only when you follow the letters chronologically that you truly see how knowledge circulated. They deal with medicine, botany, diseases, travel, conflicts and friendships – the whole of scientific life, both within Sweden and internationally,” says Eva Nyström.

The letters, most of which are held by the Linnean Society of London, had long been difficult to access and only partially published. Eva Nyström became one of the driving forces behind efforts to make them available in digital form. The letters have been digitised, interpreted, translated, transcribed and summarised.

“Every transcription is an interpretation. The handwriting can be extremely difficult to read, and the language shifts between Latin, Swedish, German and French. On top of that comes the identification of people, works and contexts. It requires both subject knowledge and patience, but the material is now searchable for everyone worldwide via the University Library’s Alvin platform.”

“This is not just an archive, but a research tool. You can trace how medical ideas emerge, how diagnoses are discussed and how Linnaeus himself viewed the medical profession and the relationship between physicians, surgeons and apothecaries,” says Eva Nyström.

Lecture on medicine and a close friendship

It is largely thanks to this work that she has now been appointed Honorary Doctor. The traditional conferment ceremony will take place on 30 January, but before that Eva Nyström will give her honorary doctorate lecture on 29 January.

“It will largely focus on medical aspects of the correspondence, with a clear emphasis on Linnaeus’s exchange of letters with the physician Abraham Bäck. This is by far the largest part of the correspondence, with more than 500 letters, and the section I find most interesting.”

What are your expectations of the conferment ceremony itself?

“I am looking forward to these days with both joy and humility. It is a great honour to be recognised in this way, not least by a faculty with which I have worked so closely for such a long time,” she says.

But for Eva Nyström, the honorary doctorate is not an ending, but rather a valuable and honouring milestone.

“There are still letters left to complete and contexts to bring to light. Linnaeus’s correspondence still contains material waiting for new readers.”

Robin Widing