Dick Helander

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Dick Helander (right) in conversation with Gottfrid Jansson in 1947

Dick Adolf Viktor Helander (born June 23, 1896 in Nyköping , † August 14, 1978 in Gothenburg ) was a Swedish Lutheran theologian and clergyman . From 1953 to 1954 he was bishop in the diocese of Strängnäs ; he was then deposed in a widely publicized process.

Life

Helander was a son of the consul Adolf Helander and a brother of the economist Sven Helander . After graduating from high school in Örebro in 1915 , he studied at the universities of Uppsala and Gothenburg . He passed the theological candidate examination in 1920. In 1923 and 1926 he obtained a theological and philosophical licentiate . After his ordination in 1923, he worked in various positions in the Lund diocese until he was appointed lecturer in practical theology at Lund University in 1931 . In 1936 he became head of the Ersta Diakonia in Stockholm. From 1941 to 1952 he held the professorship for Practical Theology and Canon Law at Uppsala University. His main research interests were the liturgical books of the 19th and 20th centuries.

After he had been put on the nomination lists for a bishopric three times since 1937, he did not receive the most votes in the bishopric election in Strängnäs in October 1952, but was appointed bishop by the government in December 1952. He took office on January 1, 1953 and was consecrated on March 22, 1953 by Archbishop Yngve Brilioth . Soon, however, he was accused of having been the author of a large number of anonymous letters that had been sent to the electoral pastor of the diocese prior to the bishopric and in which his opponents had been defamantly belittled. Although he denied the allegations throughout his life, Helander was convicted of defamation ( förtal ) in a circumstantial trial in December 1953 . Svea hovrätt upheld the judgment in 1954, while the Supreme Court initially did not allow an appeal. Helander was then deposed as bishop. In a retrial ordered by the Supreme Court in 1961, Svea hovrätt upheld the conviction in 1964, but overturned the deposition. However, since Helander had already reached retirement age, he was not reinstated in his office, but only received an additional payment of his salary.

Helander with his family, 1954

The so-called Helander affair was one of the most discussed criminal cases in Sweden in the 1950s. In addition to securing fingerprints that were found on paper and examinations on typewriters to which Helander had access, linguistic analyzes of the letter texts ( stylometry ) also played a role in the judgments - a completely new method at the time. The Norwegian journalist and writer Axel Kielland took the case in 1955 as the basis for his successful play Herren og hans tjenere - "The Lord and His Servants", which was filmed in 1959 by Arne Skouen under the same title (with Claes Gill in the leading role).

Helander spent his retirement in Gothenburg, where he died in 1978 as a result of a collision with a tram. Since 1924 he was with Anna Maria Eugenia, geb. Pettersson (1900–1986), a trained theologian, married. They had five sons together.

Fonts (selection)

  • Johann Tauler as a preacher. Almqvist & Wiksell, 1923 (also dissertation, Lund University).
  • Kant och hans samtids kyrkliga problem. Gleerup, Lund 1926.
  • John Bunyan and Kristens resa. Svenska Kyrkans Diakonistyrelses Bokförlag, Stockholm 1928.
  • Kyrkolagsförslaget 1873. Gleerup, Lund 1931.
  • Bönbok - Stora bedjares böner. Diakonistyrelse, Stockholm 1932; 12th edition 1961.
  • The liturgiska utvecklingen i Sverige under 1800-talet. Two volumes. Gleerup, Lund 1934/1939.
  • Kyrkan's copywriter. Tillkomsten av 1862 års texter. Svenska Kyrkans Diakonistyrelses Bokförlag, Stockholm 1938.
  • Handbok vid jordfästning. Svenska Kyrkans Diakonistyrelses Bokförlag, Stockholm 1944.
  • Handbok for kyrkliga förrättningar. Svenska Kyrkans Diakonistyrelses Bokförlag, Stockholm 1942.
  • Nattvardsbok. Svenska Kyrkans Diakonistyrelses Bokförlag, Stockholm 1945; 4th edition 1953.
  • Svensk psalmhistoria. Svenska Kyrkans Diakonistyrelses Bokförlag, Stockholm 1946.
  • The Lindblomska katekesen. Svenska Kyrkans Diakonistyrelses Bokförlag, Stockholm 1947.
  • Kristna symboler. En orientering. Svenska Kyrkans Diakonistyrelses Bokförlag, Stockholm 1949; 2nd edition 1951.
  • Herdabrev till Strängnäs stift. Svenska Kyrkans Diakonistyrelses Bokförlag, Stockholm 1953.
  • I domkyrkans skugga. Bonnier, Stockholm 1955.
  • Oskyldigt dömd. Bonnier, Stockholm 1957.

literature

  • Sture Allén (Ed.): Text processing text analysis and generation - text typology and attribution. Proceedings of Nobel symposium 51. Almqvist & Wiksell, Stockholm 1982, ISBN 91-22-00594-3 .
  • Kenth Olsson: Affärernas Sverige. Efterkrigstidens politiska scandaler. Stockholm 1993.
  • Ulf Hamilton: "Fyndet i papperskorgen". En minnesial study i Helander affairs i minnesfunktion i rättsrötans skugga. In: Personhistorisk Tidskrift 112, 2016, Issue 2 , pp. 147–159.
  • Martin Borg: Biskopen och sing . In: Ders .: Brotten som skakade Sverige. Svenska Historiska Media Förlag, 2018, pp. 35–49.

Web links

Commons : Dick Helander  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ "Herren og hans tjenere" som podkast on www.nrk.no ; Entry for the film in the Internet Movie Database .
predecessor Office successor
Gustaf Aulén Bishop of Strängnäs
1953–1954 		Gosta Lundström
personal data
SURNAME Helander, Dick
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Helander, Dick Adolf Viktor (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swedish Lutheran theologian and bishop
DATE OF BIRTH June 23, 1896
PLACE OF BIRTH Nykoping
DATE OF DEATH August 14, 1978
Place of death Gothenburg