Axel Wahlstedt

Axel Wahlstedt was the son of the famous Swedish botanist Lars Johan Wahlstedt (1836-1917). He studied at the Lund University and graduated as Bachelor of Arts in 1887, and as Bachelor of Medicine in 1892. He completed his studies at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, earning his licentiate in medicine in 1898.

In the following years, Wahlstedt joined the army as battalion doctor and served in various positions as a physician at Gotland’s infantry regiment and artillery corps, Västmanland’s regiment, the Fortification and the Fifth Army Division. He was promoted to the rank of a colonel in 1927. In parallel, he was assistant at the forensic chemistry department of the State Medical Institute. From 1911 to 1916 he was a member of Sweden’s Statistical Table Commission, and from 1915 to 1918 he was the editor of the Journal for Voluntary Medical Care in War. He was a corresponding member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters and became a member of the Swedish Academy of War Sciences.

Wahlstedt was also very active as sportsman and in the sports administration. He was chairman of the Stockholm Sports Association (1906-11) and a member of the executive committee of the Stockholm Shooting Association (1907-20). As a marksman he competed in two individual small-bore rifle events at the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm. He received the Stockholm Sports Confederation’s Gold Medal of Merit. In addition to sports Wahlstedt was active as chairman of the Swedish Numismatic Society (1916-34) and made major contributions as a coin and medal historian. As a pioneer in animal welfare he was chairman of the Association of Animal Friends. He wrote books in all these fields: medicine in the military, coins and medals, and animals.

He was married to the well-known female painter Astrid Wahlstedt (née Reenstierna, 1877–1946). Their daughter was Viola Ingeborg Margareta Wahlstedt-Guillemaut (1901-92), a multi-talented artist as a writer, sculptor, illustrator and graphic artist. They had one son and another daughter, who died as a child.