Christian Keller (29 October 1858 – 8 June 1934) was a Danish physician and honorary professor who pioneered and expanded the state-supported Danish care system for the intellectually disabled ("åndssvagevæsen") in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
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Early life, family and education
Keller was born in Helliånds parish, Copenhagen in 1858. He was the second son of Professor Johan Keller and Cathrine Graae. He graduated from the Borgerdyd School in Copenhagen in 1875 and received his medical degree in 1883. He worked as an assistant doctor at the Oringe and Frederiksberg Hospital in 1883.
Career
Keller worked at the Frederiksberg Hospital from 1883–84 before he became the director and chief physician at the Keller Institution for the Mentally Deficient, which was founded by his father in 1867. He was a member of the commission for the reorganisation of institutions for the mentally disabled in 1886 and part of the commission on the organisation of Danish services for individuals that were deaf-mute and the mentally deficient in 1888. This work influenced the Danish Parliament, which led to a law being passed on 26 March 1898 called "Lov om det statsunderstøttede åndssvagevæsen", which came with a financial grant that enabled a new institution for the mentally disabled to be founded at Brejning by Vejle Fjord in Jutland in 1899. He also planned and oversaw the construction of further institutions at Livø for antisocial or criminal men in 1911 and Sprogø for morally deficient or antisocial women in 1923.