Samuli Paulaharju (14 April 1875 – 6 February 1944) 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 ...

teacher,

ethnographer Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...

and writer. He was granted with the title of Professor in October 1943. Paulaharju was born in

Kurikka Kurikka is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southern Ostrobothnia region. The population of Kurikka is () and the municipality covers an area of of which is inland water () ...

in 1875. He studied in the Jyväskylä Teacher Seminary and graduated in 1901. After graduation, he first worked in Uusikirkko but in 1904 he moved to

Oulu Oulu ( , ; sv, Uleåborg ) is a city, municipality and a seaside resort of about 210,000 inhabitants in the region of North Ostrobothnia, Finland. It is the most populous city in northern Finland and the fifth most populous in the country after: ...

to work as a crafts and arts teacher in a school for deaf-mute children. Paulaharju spent summers for field trips collecting

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 ...

, in the winter he wrote his works and taught in the school. He wrote 21 books, hundreds of journal articles, took over eight thousand photographs and made thousands of drawings on his trips. Since 1908 Paulaharju also worked as a curator for the Northern Ostrobothnia museum in Oulu. Nowadays Paulaharju's study and library can be found in the museum. Samuli Paulaharju is buried in the

Oulu Cemetery The Oulu Cemetery ( fi, Oulun hautausmaa) is a cemetery located in the Intiö district close to the city centre of Oulu, Finland. The cemetery was inaugurated in 1781 by vicar Carl Henrik Ståhle. After the vicar the cemetery was first known as '' ...

References

1875 births 1944 deaths Finnish ethnographers People from Kurikka Finnish schoolteachers Finnish curators {{Finland-writer-stub