Jaakko Suolahti (18 January 1918 – 28 January 1987) 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 ...

classical scholar Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

and historian Suolahti was one of the leading classicists during his time and reached international recognition within the areas of political- and social culture in the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kin ...

Life

Suolahti was born in

Brändö Brändö is an island municipality of Åland, Finland. Characteristics of Brändö are the numerous assembly of islands and islets, most important of which are linked by bridges and causeways. The municipality has a population of () and covers a ...

Åland Åland ( fi, Ahvenanmaa: ; ; ) is an Federacy, autonomous and Demilitarized zone, demilitarised region of Finland since 1920 by a decision of the League of Nations. It is the smallest region of Finland by area and population, with a size of 1 ...

(Autonomous region within

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

) in 1918 into an esteemed finish academic family. His father was

Gunnar Suolahti Gunnar is a male first name of Nordic origin (''Gunnarr'' in Old Norse). The name Gunnar means fighter, soldier, and attacker, but mostly is referred to by the Viking saying which means Brave and Bold warrior (''gunnr'' "war" and ''arr'' "warrior ...

, a Finnish historian of great national esteem. His father became a professor in

Nordic History The history of Scandinavia is the history of the geographical region of Scandinavia and its peoples. The region is located in Northern Europe, and consists of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Finland and Iceland are at times, especially in English- ...

at the University of Helsingfors the same year as Jakko was born and would keep the tenure until his death in 1933. His father was the frontrunner for the

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

school of historical theory based on

Karl Lamprecht Karl Gotthard Lamprecht (25 February 1856 – 10 May 1915) was a German historian who specialized in German art and economic history. Biography Lamprecht was born in Jessen in the Province of Saxony. As a student, he trained in history, politic ...

in Finland. His uncle,

Hugo Suolahti Viktor Hugo Suolahti (7 October 1874 in Hämeenlinna – 23 February 1944 in Helsinki) was a Finnish politician, linguist and philologist. Before 1906, he was known as Viktor Hugo Palander. Philosopher Pentti Linkola was his grandson through his d ...

, was principal and later chancellor of the University of Helsingfors and a cousin,

Eino Suolahti Eino is a Finnish and Estonian masculine given name. The name is thought to be the Finnic form of the given name Henri. Both Finnish and Estonian languages belong to the Finno-Ugric language group through their being Uralic languages.Languag ...

would become one of Finlands most prolific essayists and historical writers. Gunnar_Suolahti

Suolahti worked from 1947 to 1956 in the

National Archives of Finland The National Archives of Finland (Finnish: ''Kansallisarkisto'', Swedish: ''Riksarkivet'') is a Finnish government agency under the Ministry of Education and Culture. It is responsible for archiving official documents of the Finnish state and mu ...

while he worked on his disputation in History which was finished in 1955 at the University of Helsingfors. He was appointed Professor of History in 1960 and would remain as such until his retirement in 1981. During the period 1962 to 1965 he was the director of the ''

Institutum Romanum Finlandiae Institutum Romanum Finlandiae, also known as The Finnish Institute in Rome, is an academic institution that supports research in the humanities, particularly in relation to ancient history and Italy. The institute was inaugurated on 29 April 1954, ...

'' (located in

Villa Lante al Gianicolo Villa Lante al Gianicolo is a villa in Rome on the Janiculum Hill (Gianicolo). It is a summer house designed by Giulio Romano in 1520-21 for Baldassare Turini, as one of Romano's first independent commissions after the death of his master Raph ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

), the Finnish Institute in Rome.https://www.uppslagsverket.fi/sv/sok/view-103684-SuolahtiJaakko (2020-12-14)

Bibliography

* Suolahti, Jaakko, ''On the Persian sources used by the Byzantine historian Agathias.'', Societas, Helsinki, 1947 * Suolahti, Jaakko, ''The junior officers of the Roman army in the Republican period: a study on social structure'', Diss. Helsingfors : Univ.,Helsinki, 1955 * Suolahti, Jaakko, ''The Roman censors: a study on social structure'', Helsinki, 1963

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Suolahti, Jaakko Historians of antiquity Textual scholarship Historians of ancient Rome 20th-century Finnish historians University of Helsinki alumni People from Åland 1918 births 1987 deaths Academic staff of the University of Helsinki