''Saima'' was a

Swedish language Swedish ( ) is a North Germanic language spoken predominantly in Sweden and in parts of Finland. It has at least 10 million native speakers, the fourth most spoken Germanic language and the first among any other of its type in the Nordic countr ...

weekly newspaper which was published in

Turku Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...

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 ...

. It was one of the first Swedish language newspapers in Finland. The paper adopted the libertarian theory of the press which would lead to its closure in 1846 soon after its start in 1844.

History and profile

''Saima'' was founded by

Johan Vilhelm Snellman Johan Vilhelm Snellman (; 12 May 1806 – 4 July 1881) was an influential Fennoman philosopher and Finnish statesman, ennobled in 1866. He was one of the most important 'awakeners' or promoters of Finnish nationalism, alongside Elias Lönnrot a ...

, a Swedish-origin Finnish politician, in 1844. He was also the

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

of the paper which targeted educated people and was one of the earliest examples of the active and critical publications. Snellman published articles in the paper which appeared on a weekly basis and expressed his views on nationality, language and literature. He argued in an article in the second issue of ''Saima'' dated January 1844 that Finland did not have a

national literature This is a list of literature pages categorized by country, language, or cultural group. Sometimes these literatures will be called national literatures because they help define a national identity or provide a common reference point for that coun ...

. The paper ceased publication in 1846 when it was banned by the authorities due to its liberal political and cultural stance which were considered to be a threat to the rule of Grand Duke of Finland, Nicholas I.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saima 1844 establishments in Finland 1846 disestablishments in Finland Banned newspapers Censorship in Finland Defunct newspapers published in Finland Defunct weekly newspapers Libertarian publications Mass media in Turku Publications established in 1844 Publications established in 1846 Swedish-language newspapers published in Finland Weekly newspapers published in Finland