Nils Silfverskiöld

The son of a physician, Nils Silfverskiöld became a candidate of medicine in 1911 at Uppsala University. He continued his studies in Stockholm and was a member of the Swedish team that won gold in the Swedish system team event at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics. He went on to become a licentiate of medicine in 1916 and a doctor in 1924. His thesis was an “Orthopaedic study on infantile spastic hemiplegia”. During this period he worked as an assistant physician in Dresen in Germany, at the Karolinska Institute for the Insane and assistant physician at the Garrison Hospital in Stockholm. In addition, he became director of medical gymnastics in Stockholm and teacher at the Central Institute of Gymnastics in 1917.

In 1925, Silfverskiöld became an associate professor of orthopaedic surgery at the Karolinska Institute. Two years later he became chief physician at Sabbatsberg Hospital, in 1936 at the Serafimer Hospital, and in 1940 at the Karolinska Hospital, all in Stockholm.

Silfverskiöld was a staunch anti-fascist and worked for the magazine Kulturfront. Triggered by his left-wing sympathies, he established the Swedish Auxiliary Hospital during the Spanish Civil War in 1937 and later became chairman of the Sweden-Soviet Union League.

Silfverskiöld was married four times: first in 1916 to Karin Emma Helena Julie Améen, second in 1923 to Margarethe Anna Maria “Grete” Wiesenthal, third in 1932 to the Countess Mary von Rosen, and fourth in 1944 to Ingrid Elsa Charlotta Edlund. Silfverskiöld had a total of four daughters and two sons. A daughter from his third marriage, Pamela Silfverskiöld, was married to the American jazz musician Stan Getz. He wrote several articles and books about orthopaedics, gymnastics and political issues.