Digiarkiston keskustelufoorumi

I had an ancestor that died in 1783 with cause of death being Svarmod according to Hiski record as shown below. I think it may have something to do with depression or melancholy. Could this be a suicide?
Salla
Buried
Link to this event [ 3733324 ]

Died / Buried 5.7.1783 15.3.1784
Village / Farm Kursu
Deceased Elin Wuonnala
Cause of death / Age svårmod. 63 years - months - weeks - days
Own comment
Original comment ALKUPKOMM: g.

Links SSHY - Digiarkisto ( LINE 236 BELOW)



231 9.10.1782 13.10.1782 Kursu Olof Olofss. Hari koppor 1 4
232 19.10.1782 27.10.1782 Kemiby Olof Andersson Suva feber 40
233 12.10.1782 26.12.1782 Kallung Matts Kallung hetz.feb. 68 5 1 3
234 18.5.1782 26.12.1782 Ongamo Olof Isaacsson Ongamo hosta 1
235 28.12.1782 31.12.1782 Luiro Malin Mattsd:r Luiro feber 30
236 5.7.1783 15.3.1784 Kursu Elin Wuonnala svårmod. 63
237 11.1.1783 9.2.1783 Käsmä Michel Pehrss. Wuonnala feber 59 4 2 3
238 6.1.1783 2.3.1783 Kuolajärvi Olof Marcuss. Kerjung hetz.feb. 53 8 3
239 11.3.1783 16.3.1783 Nousu Anders Hansson Nousu hetz.feb. 20
240 5.4.1783 10.4.1783 Käsmä Zachris Olofss. Salmijärfvi hetz.feb. 29 10 1 2
241 17.4.1783 19.4.1783 Pelkola Johan Pelkonen ålderd. 80

Please advise
Thank You
Janice Horton

Yes, it means depression. These causes of death are not always what we would consider as fatal, they only list the most visible symptoms. There were no doctors around - and even they would probably be no wiser. However, I do not believe it was a suicide, as that was a crime at the time and would have been mentioned.

Katie,

Your thoughts were right.
Svår = difficult, heavy, troublesome.
Mod = mood.

In combination this means among others melancholy, indulging in sorrow, depression etc.

Another thing to remark is the lengthy time between death and burial. It indicates to me that in between the death and the (final) burial, a court process took place that was to solve whether the suicide was a result of ill will and free choice or not. The free choice with ill will was to be punished and the burial in such cases was technically carried out in dishonoring manner. This is one of such cases that a look at the court process documentation would open up the background finally. The long time between the two dates suggests that the case was indeed handled in a court and witnesses had to be called to give their testimonies. For me the delay looks unusually long.

The point in the process was to prove whether the person had been mentally ill, and if yes, the burial was to be carried outside of the cemetery borders, but in the other case, the act was a crime against God. The body had thus to be burned in forest. This was part of the 1734 legislation. In about 1840 the punishing attitude was finished so that burning was no more mandatory. Even when burial in cemetery was allowed, for a long time until 1910, the burial had to be "silent", with minimal formalities.

The punishment of voluntary suicide was so scary that it lead some people to murder someone with the intent of getting a death penalty and being executed in a normal manner. The logic was to avoid getting to hell, the corpse becoming burned on fire etc.

Hello, Lukuapua
Thank you so much for reviewing my request. I had a feeling that it may have been suicide. I'll try to investigate further for more information and look over her family records to see if something catastrophic may have happened before she died, perhaps other deaths within the family.
I appreciate the information you provided, it is most helpful.
Janice Horton

Hello Eevah and timotk
The previous has the wrong wording Lukuapua. I'm sorry, I'm not sure if that is someone's name and I just noticed your two names. I have not been on this site in a while and I forgot to look in the right place for your names.
Thanks again for all the help both of you gave me.
Janice

Lukuapua means Help for reading