Christian Sibelius

Christian Sibelius (28 March 1869 in Hämeenlinna – 2 July 1922 in Helsinki) was a Finnish doctor and professor of psychiatry.

Sibelius became a Bachelor of Arts in 1889 and a doctor of medicine in 1897, and in the same year became an associate professor of pathological anatomy at the University of Helsinki.

His doctoral thesis, Bidrag till kännedomen om de histologiska förändringarna i ryggmärgen, de spinala rötterna och ganglierna vid progressiv paralysi (Contribution to the knowledge of the histological changes in the spinal cord, the spinal roots and ganglia in progressive paralysis), discussed both normal histological and pathological conditions, and demonstrated the relationship between paralysis and spinal cord damage.

His early scientific works include 'Till kännedomen om de efter amputationer uppkommande förändringarna i nervsystemet med speciell hänsyn till de spinokutana neuronerna' (in Finska läkaresällskapets Handlingar, 1897) and 'Zur Kenntniss der Entwickelungsstörungen der Spinalganglienzellen bei hereditär-luetischen missbildeten und anscheinend normalen neugeborenen' (in Zeitschrift für Nervenheilkunde, 1901).

Like his elder brother, the celebrated composer Jean Sibelius, he was a gifted chamber musician (a cellist), and he performed with him in his youth.