Julius Leopold Fredrik Krohn (19 April 1835 – 28 August 1888) was a Finnish folk poetry researcher, professor of Finnish literature, poet, hymn writer, translator and journalist. He was born in Viipuri and was of Baltic German origin. Krohn worked as a lecturer on

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 Swedish ...

Helsinki University The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public university, public Research university, research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turk ...

from the year 1875 and as a supernumerary professor from 1885. He was one of the most notable researchers into Finnish folk poetry in the 19th century. His native language was

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

Life

Krohn's mother was Julie Dannenberg, a daughter of the Baltic German family at Kiiskilä manor near Vyborg. The versatile and talented Julie spoke eight languages and played the piano brilliantly. The other half of Julie Dannenberg's family was of Ingrian background.

Works and influence

Krohn mostly preferred not to write under his foreign surname, but either adopted a

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

or worked as part of a collective, such as the

fennomans The Fennoman movement or Fennomania was a Finnish nationalist movement in the 19th-century Grand Duchy of Finland, built on the work of the ''fennophile'' interests of the 18th and early-19th centuries. History After the Crimean War, Fennoman ...

, of which he was a leading member. Using pseudonyms, he translated many of

Johan Ludvig Runeberg Johan Ludvig Runeberg (; 5 February 1804 – 6 May 1877) was a Finnish priest, lyric and epic poet. He wrote exclusively in Swedish. He is considered a national poet of Finland. He is the author of the lyrics to (''Our Land'', ''Maamme'' in Fin ...

's works into Finnish, and researchers also concluded that he penned the Finnish lyrics for the

Finnish national anthem "" (; sv, Vårt land, ; both meaning "Our Land") is the de facto national anthem of Finland. The music was composed by the German immigrant Fredrik Pacius, with original Swedish words by Johan Ludvig Runeberg, and with this music it was perform ...

. Under his most notable pseudonym Suonio he published poetry; e.g. ''Mansikoita ja mustikoita'' 1856–61 ("Strawberries and blueberries") and ''Kuun tarinoita'' ("Tales of the moon"). As Suonio, he worked as editor of '' Suomen Kuvalehti'' and translated many of

Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy' ...

's novels, such as ''

A Legend of Montrose ''A Legend of Montrose'' is an historical novel by Sir Walter Scott, set in Scotland in the 1640s during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It forms, along with ''The Bride of Lammermoor'', the 3rd series of Scott's ''Tales of My Landlord''. The tw ...

''.

Scientific work

An important contribution to a history of Finnish literature was Krohn's doctoral thesis ''Suomenkielinen runollisuus ruotsinvallan aikana'' (1862). Krohn was also the first to develop a scientific method for the study of

folklore 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 ...

, the ''historic-geographic method''. This method, which is connected with nationalist understandings of folk culture, involves careful comparison of variant texts of an item of folklore to the end of identifying the "original" version (as well as its origin) Julius Krohn died by drowning in

Bay of Vyborg Vyborg Bay (, , ) is a deep inlet running northeastward near the eastern end of Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea. The city of Vyborg is located near the head of the gulf. The Monrepos Park is considered a jewel of the bay and a major draw f ...

in a yachting accident at the age of 53. His work with

and the Finnish language was continued by his son

Kaarle Krohn Kaarle Krohn (10 May 1863 – 19 July 1933) was a Finnish folklorist, professor and developer of the geographic-historic method of folklore research. He was born into the influential Krohn family of Helsinki. Krohn is best known outside of Finlan ...

, who published much of his scientific work posthumously. This work was further developed by their student Antti Aarne.

Children

Back row from left Ilmari, Kaarle, Helmi with spouse E

Apart from Krohn's son Kaarle, mentioned above, his son Ilmari became a composer of

church music Church music is Christian music written for performance in church, or any musical setting of ecclesiastical liturgy, or music set to words expressing propositions of a sacred nature, such as a hymn. History Early Christian music The onl ...

. His daughter ''Aino'' married the

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

n nationalist

Oskar Kallas Oskar Kallas (also Oskar Philipp Kallas; in Kirikuküla, Saaremaa – 26 January 1946 in Stockholm) was an Estonian diplomat, linguist and folklorist.Toivo Miljan, ''Historical Dictionary of Estonia'', Scarecrow Press 2004 He was the husband o ...

and was known as a writer by the name Aino Kallas. His daughter

Helmi Krohn Helmi Anni Krohn, also Helmi Setälä (31 October 1871 – 18 October 1967), was a Finnish writer and translator who wrote fiction, biographies and children’s books. She was also an editor and publisher. Biography Krohn was born in Helsinki in ...

, also an author, married

Eemil Nestor Setälä Eemil Nestor Setälä (; 27 February 1864 – 8 February 1935) was a Finnish politician and once the Chairman of the Senate of Finland, from September 1917 to November 1917, when he was author of the Finnish Declaration of Independence. Se ...

, later the acting head of state of Finland in November 1917, after the abdication of Nicholas II of Russia.

Publications

*
Etext books on-line
at the

Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg (PG) is a Virtual volunteering, volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks." It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the ...

site **
Yrjö Aukusti Wallin ja hänen matkansa Arabiassa
' (in Finnish) Non fiction work on the ethnographer and adventurer

Georg August Wallin Georg August Wallin (Yrjö Aukusti Wallin, aka Abd al-Wali; 24 October 1811 – 23 October 1852)Maksimilian Aukusti Myhrberg
' (in Finnish) **
Vanha tarina Montrosesta
' Finnish translation of ''

'' by Sir

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'', ''Rob Roy (n ...

References

On the history of comparison in folklore studies
* ttp://www.helsinki.fi/yliopistonhistoria/oivallukset/6_oivallus.htm Maantieteellis-historiallinen metodiat the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku (in Swedish ''Åbo'') in 1640 as the ...

site (in Finnish)

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Krohn, Julius 1835 births 1888 deaths Writers from Vyborg People from Viipuri Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) Baltic-German people Finnish people of German descent Finnish scientists 19th-century Finnish poets Finnish Lutheran hymnwriters Finnish journalists Fennomans Translators from Swedish Translators from German Translators from English Translators from Hungarian Translators to Finnish 19th-century journalists Male journalists 19th-century translators 19th-century male writers Finnish male poets Finnish folklorists 19th-century Lutherans