OUT OF INTEREST: Mikael Agricola (1510 - 1557), Father of Finnish written langauge.

Once again, the national flag is raised on virtually every building in the land. And the reason this time is to celebrate the life of Mikael Agricola who lived from 1510 - 1557.

A Finnish clergyman, Agricola was a proponent of the Protestant Reformation during what was the time of Swedish rule. Later on, he went on to found written Finnish and is therefore known as the 'Father of Finnish written langauge.'

Very little is known about his life; key dates, including his birth, remain inexact. From a quite wealthy peasant family (how can a peasant family be wealthy?!), he had three sisters and, somehow, their names are not known either.

His teachers apparently recognized his aptitude for languages and he was sent to study Latin in Viipuri. It was when he studied there that he assumed the surname of Agricola, honouring his father's occupation as a farmer which was common for first-generation scholars of the time.

It is believed that his time in Viipuri bought him into contact with the Reformation; Viipuri's castle was ruled by German Count Johann, who had served the King of Sweden, Gustav Vasa. The Count was a supporter of the Rreformation, and Lutheran services were already known to be held during this time.

In 1528, he moved to Turku on the West Coast of Finland, and became a scribe for the bishop there. On the death of Martin Luther's first Finnish student, Petrus Särkilahti, in 1529, it was up to Agricola to continue his work. It has been presumed that he was ordained to the priesthood around 1531.

After a period of study in Germany, Agricola learnt Greek, the original language of the New Testament. In Germany, he also met Martin Luther, the German theologian whose teachings inspired the Reformation. In 1537, Agricola began translating the New Testament into Finnish, but at the same time began working on 'ABC Kiria', a primer for reading in a nation where there was no nationally understood written language. This was published in 1538, ahead of the New Testament's publication in 1548.

In the late 1530s, King Gustav Vasa had confiscated the property of Church when he was consolidating his power whilst also driving the reformation. In 1544, Agricola received an order from the crown to send several talented young men to Stockholm's taxing offices. Agricola did not obey until the order was sent again the next year and this disobedience affected relations considerably.

In 1548, Gustav Vasa ordered Agricola to retire from his position as a rector. Married at this time, Agricola bore a son, Christian Agricola, who later went on to became the bishop of Tallinn in 1584.

In 1557, Agricola joined the delegation that was going to Russia to negotiate a peace treaty. On his way back, he fell ill and died in Karelia. Like very much in his life, the exact location of his grave inside Viipuri's church remains unknown.