OUT OF INTEREST: Juhan Ludvig Runerbeg (1804-1877)

Johan Ludvig Runeberg (1804-1877) is consider to be Finland's national poet. Born on February 5, 1804, the Finnish-Swedish poet studied first in the cities of Vaasa and Oulu before joining the Academy of Turku where he befriended Johan Vilhelm Snellman (an influential philosopher and Finnish statesman) and Zacharias Topelius (a prolific Finnish-Swedish journalist, historian and author). Runeberg's studies concentrated mainly on the classical languages of latin and greek.

Many of his poems deal with life in rural Finland. The best known of these is Bonden Paavo, about a peasant farmer (Paavo) in a poor parish of and his determination and sisu (guts) in the face of a harsh climate and years of bad harvests. Each year, he mixes double the amount of bark into his bread to stave off starvation.

Runeberg's most famous work is The Tales of Ensign Stal (Vänrikki Stoolin tarinat in Finnish). It is considered the greatest Finnish epic poen outside the native Kalevala tradition and contains tales of the Finnish War of 1808-1809 with Russia.


In the war, Sweden ignominiously lost Finland, which became a Grandy Duchy in the Russian Empire. The poem emphasizes the common humanity of all sides in the conflict, while principally lauding the heroism of the Finns. The first poem, 'Our Land', ('Maamme' in Finnish) became the Finnish National Anthem.

Runeberg is celebrated on 5th February each year with the consumption of delicious Runeberg Tarts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johan_Ludvig_Runeberg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johan_Vilhelm_Snellman
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zacharias_Topelius