![Kristfrid](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Kristfrid.Ganander.JPG)
Cristfried Ganander (21 November 1741 in
Haapajärvi
Haapajärvi is a town and municipality of Finland.
It is located in the province of Oulu and is part of the Northern Ostrobothnia region. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is .
Neig ...
– 17 February 1790 in
Rantsila) was a
Finnish
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people
* Finnish cuisine
See also ...
compiler of
folk culture
Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging fro ...
, a
priest
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...
and an 18th-century
lexicographer
Lexicography is the study of lexicons, and is divided into two separate academic disciplines. It is the art of compiling dictionaries.
* Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries.
* Theoretica ...
. Ganander's greatest achievement was the compilation of the first fully extensive
Finnish-language
Finnish ( endonym: or ) is a Uralic language of the Finnic branch, spoken by the majority of the population in Finland and by ethnic Finns outside of Finland. Finnish is one of the two official languages of Finland (the other being Swedis ...
dictionary which was, however, unpublished. He was also a collector of folk culture well before
Elias Lönnrot
Elias Lönnrot (; 9 April 1802 – 19 March 1884) was a Finnish physician, philologist and collector of traditional Finnish oral poetry. He is best known for creating the Finnish national epic, ''Kalevala'',
(1835, enlarged 1849), from short ...
. His most well-known published work is ''
Mythologia Fennica
Mythologia Fennica (''Finnish Mythology'') is a 1789 book on Finnish mythology written in Swedish by Kristfrid Ganander, a Finnish priest.
''Mythologia Fennica'' contains 430 entries in alphabetical order from "AARNI" to "YRJÄNÄ". Entries cover ...
'' in 1789, a reference book of
folk religion
In religious studies and folkloristics, folk religion, popular religion, traditional religion or vernacular religion comprises various forms and expressions of religion that are distinct from the official doctrines and practices of organized re ...
. He also published some poetry and worked as a teacher.
Life
Ganander was born in
Haapajärvi
Haapajärvi is a town and municipality of Finland.
It is located in the province of Oulu and is part of the Northern Ostrobothnia region. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is .
Neig ...
in 1741, to
chaplain Thomas Ganader and his wife Helena Hiden. After his father's death in 1752, he was taken in by his grandfather Henrik Hiden, who was also a chaplain in the
vicarage
A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage.
Function
A clergy house is typically ow ...
of
Kauhajoki. Ganander himself later worked as a chaplain in
Rantsila from 1775 to 1790.
Ganander became a priest at the
Academy of Turku and was consecrated to a post in 1763. He completed his master's degree in 1766. While studying, he became influenced by the
natural sciences
Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...
and became interested in the notion of Finnishness of
Henrik Gabriel Porthan
Henrik Gabriel Porthan (1739 in Viitasaari – 1804 in Turku) was a professor and rector at the Royal Academy of Turku. He was a scholar sometimes known as ''The Father of Finnish History''.
Biography
He was born at Viitasaari in Tavastland, ...
.
Works
'
Ganander began his literary career by publishing a collection of
riddles
A riddle is a statement, question or phrase having a double or veiled meaning, put forth as a puzzle to be solved. Riddles are of two types: ''enigmas'', which are problems generally expressed in metaphorical or allegorical language that requ ...
and
fairy tales, which he collected from oral tradition in
Ostrobothnia while chaplain in
Rantsila. His collection '', '' was published in 1783 and comprises in its first edition, 378 riddles (though a later edition was shortened to remove some sexual and ecclesiastical riddles). It is based on the
folk poetry
Folk poetry (sometimes referred to as ''poetry in action'') is poetry that is part of a society's folklore, usually part of their oral tradition. When sung, folk poetry becomes a folk song.
Description
Folk poetry in general has several characteri ...
he had collected as well as the Finnish
lexicon.
'
In 1789, ' was published as a reference book of folk poetry, spells, traditions, and literary sources. The book was also a presentation of the early history of the Finnish people. The work was originally completed in 1785, and was in fact a subset of Ganander's wider lexicographical work.
[Juha Y. Pentikäinen, ''Kalevala Mythology: Expanded Edition'', ed. and trans. by Ritva Poom (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1999), 4-5.] A
reprinted version was printed in 1961. Elias Lönnrot considered it to be a notable work. Lönnrot later continued from Ganader's starting point.
'
The most notable of Ganader's works is his dictionary '. The dictionary includes over 30,000
lexical entries which have
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
and
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
explanations. There are also etymological explanations in his book. Although it was not published during his lifetime, it was finally published as a reprint between 1937 and 1940.
Other works
In 1780, Ganander published a thesis about the origin, way of life and language of the
Romany. His national and scholarly interests applied to education in the late 18th century. Ganader published two of the first Finnish-language medical books ' (''"The Home Pharmacy for the Country Man"'') and ' (''"A Book of Animal Diseases"''). There were many editions of these works still being used in the 19th century.
References
External links
Yle, Suuret suomalaiset artikkeliVirtuaaliyliopiston artikkeli, jossa lähdeviitteitä ja luettelo Gananderin julkaisuistaRantsilan sivuilla Ganander*
ttp://agricola.utu.fi//hist/kktk/ganander/kotiapteekki.html K. Ganander: Maan-Miehen Huone- ja Koti-Aptheeki (kirja www-muodossa)
Suomalaisia myyttisiä olentoja Mythologia FennicastaOulun kaupunginkirjaston Pakkala-kirjailijahakemisto
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ganander, Cristfried
1741 births
1790 deaths
People from Haapajärvi
Finnish scholars
Finnish lexicographers
18th-century Finnish Lutheran clergy
18th-century lexicographers