Dick Adolf Viktor Helander (23 June 1896 – 14 August 1978) was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

bishop in

Strängnäs Strängnäs is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Strängnäs Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden with 15,363 inhabitants in 2020. It is located by Lake Mälaren and is the episcopal see of the Diocese of Strängnäs, one of t ...

diocese between 1952 and 1953 and a professor. He lost his position as a bishop in the aftermath of a defamation case.

Life and career

Helander was born 23 June 1896 in

Nyköping Nyköping () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Nyköping Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden, with 32,759 inhabitants as of 2017. The city is also the capital of Södermanland County. Including Arnö, the locality on the ...

, and graduated from Karolinska college in Örebro in 1915. After studies in

Uppsala Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Loc ...

and Gothenburg Helander received a fil, cand. in philosophy in 1918. Helander officially became a priest on 20 May 1923 in

Lund Lund (, ;"Lund"
(US) and ) is a city in the provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, southern Swed ...

s congregation. In 1931 he became a docent in practical theology at

Lund University Lund University () is a Public university, public research university in Sweden and one of Northern Europe's oldest universities. The university is located in the city of Lund in the Swedish province of Scania. The university was officially foun ...

. In 1952, Helander was named bishop of

. Helander died on 14 August 1978, when he was hit by a tram in

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

. He was buried at the Mariachurch on 30 August 1978.

Defamation case

On 22 December 1953, Helander was indicted in connection with libelous letters defaming other candidates, that he was claimed to have sent to members of Strängnäs bishopric. He was prosecuted and sentenced against his own denials for defamation. He was expelled from his bishop position. The sentence was appealed. In 1954 the sentence was upheld by

Svea Court of Appeal Svea Court of Appeal (), located in Stockholm, is one of six appellate courts in the Swedish legal system, as well as the oldest Swedish court currently in use (the Supreme Court being constituted only in 1789, over 150 years later). It is loca ...

and other appeals were not brought up. The affair was known by the name Helandermålet (meaning The Helander case). Helander later wrote several books proclaiming his innocence about writing the letters. In 2002, new tests on the

saliva Saliva (commonly referred as spit or drool) is an extracellular fluid produced and secreted by salivary glands in the mouth. In humans, saliva is around 99% water, plus electrolytes, mucus, white blood cells, epithelial cells (from which ...

from the letters proved that Helander had not posted the letters of recommendation personally.

Bibliography

* ''Bönbok - Stora bedjares böner'' * ''Nattvardsbok'' * ''Handbok vid jordfästning'' * ''Handbok för kyrkliga förrättningar'' * ''Den liturgiska utvecklingen i Sverige 1811-1894'' * '' Svensk psalmhistoria'' (1946) * ''Herdabrev till Strängnäs stift'' (1953) * '' I domkyrkans skugga'' (1955) * ''Oskyldigt dömd'' (1957)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Helander, Dick Lutheran bishops of Strängnäs 1896 births 1978 deaths People from Nyköping Academic staff of Lund University