Maximilian Theodor (Max) Buch (29 August 1850 in

Räpina Räpina (, ) is a town in Põlva County, Estonia. Räpina was administrative centre of Räpina raion from 1950 until 1961, currently it is the administrative centre of Räpina Parish. The oldest commercial enterprise in Räpina is a paper fac ...

, Livonian Governorate, Russian Empire – 6 January 1920 in

Lappeenranta Lappeenranta (; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of South Karelia. It is located in the southeastern interior of the country and in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Lappeenranta is approximately , while the Lappeenranta sub-r ...

, Finland) was a Baltic German-born Finnish physician, ethnographer, court councillor, Finnish nationalist, and advocate of

public education A state school, public school, or government school is a primary school, primary or secondary school that educates all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in part by taxation and operated by the government of the state. State-f ...

. His extensive literary production is mainly in German, but he also published in Swedish and Russian.

Scientific studies

He made ethnographic observations among the

Udmurts The Udmurts (, ) are a Permian (Finno-Ugric) ethnic group in Eastern Europe, who speak the Udmurt language. They mainly live in the republic of Udmurtia in Russia. Etymology The name ''Udmurt'' comes from * 'meadow people,' where the first part ...

(Votyaks) and published the study ''Die Wotjäken: Eine Ethnologische Studie'' in 1882. He also wrote on Estonian folk religion.

Scientific theories

Buch is also noted for his controversial studies in curing

alcoholism Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World He ...

by means of

strychnine Strychnine (, , American English, US chiefly ) is a highly toxicity, toxic, colorless, bitter, crystalline alkaloid used as a pesticide, particularly for killing small vertebrates such as birds and rodents. Strychnine, when inhaled, swallowed, ...

Public education

Buch authored the pamphlet, ''Finnland und seine Nationalitätenfrage'' ("Finland and Her Nationality Question"), in which he detailed the low availability of schooling and the emphasis of a Swedish language on Finns. In a summary by

Peter Kropotkin Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin (9 December 1842 – 8 February 1921) was a Russian anarchist and geographer known as a proponent of anarchist communism. Born into an aristocratic land-owning family, Kropotkin attended the Page Corps and later s ...

, "Out of 300,000 children of school age in 1881, only 26,900 received instruction in 576 permanent schools, of which 134 were Swedish."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buch, Maximilian Theodor Baltic-German people from the Russian Empire Physicians from the Russian Empire 19th-century Finnish physicians 20th-century Finnish physicians Finnish nationalists Finnish ethnographers Ethnographers from the Russian Empire 1920 deaths 1850 births People from Räpina Finnish people of Baltic German descent