The Royal Academy of Turku or the Royal Academy of Åbo was the first university in

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, and the only Finnish university that was founded when the country still was a part of Sweden. It was founded in 1640. In 1809, after Finland became a grand duchy within the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, it was renamed the Imperial Academy of Turku. In 1828, after the Great Fire of Turku, the institution was moved to

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

, in line with the relocation of the capital of the grand duchy. It was finally renamed the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki (, ; UH) is a public university in Helsinki, Finland. The university was founded in Turku in 1640 as the Royal Academy of Åbo under the Swedish Empire, and moved to Helsinki in 1828 under the sponsorship of Alexander ...

when Finland declared independence in 1917.

History

The academy was founded on 26 March 1640 by Queen

Christina of Sweden Christina (; 18 December ld Style and New Style dates, O.S. 8 December1626 – 19 April 1689), a member of the House of Vasa, was Monarchy of Sweden, Queen of Sweden from 1632 until her abdication in 1654. Her conversion to Catholicism and ...

at the proposal of Count Per Brahe, on base of Åbo Cathedral School (founded 1276). It was the third university in the

Swedish Empire The Swedish Empire or the Great Power era () was the period in Swedish history spanning much of the 17th and early 18th centuries during which Sweden became a European great power that exercised territorial control over much of the Baltic regi ...

, following

Uppsala University Uppsala University (UU) () is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially fou ...

(founded 1477) and the Academia Gustaviana (now the

University of Tartu The University of Tartu (UT; ; ) is a public research university located in the city of Tartu, Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is also the largest and oldest university in the country.

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

) (1632). The first printing shop in Finland was established at the academy in 1642. The printer was Peder Walde. Turun hovioikeus talvella

Turku Turku ( ; ; , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Aura River (Finland), River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately , while t ...

(or Åbo in Swedish) was the largest city in Finland and among the three largest in Sweden, while under Swedish sovereignty. In 1809, Finland was ceded to

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and the capital of the new

Grand Duchy of Finland The Grand Duchy of Finland was the predecessor state of modern Finland. It existed from 1809 to 1917 as an Autonomous region, autonomous state within the Russian Empire. Originating in the 16th century as a titular grand duchy held by the Monarc ...

was relocated to Helsinki in 1812, as Turku was regarded as being too remote from

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

— and too near to

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. As a result of the Great Fire of Turku of 1827, which devastated most of the city and also badly damaged the university, the government offices that had remained were finally moved to the new capital, and so also was the university. It continued in Helsinki, first as the ''Imperial Alexander University in Finland'', and, following Finland's independence in 1917, as the

. There are two universities in Turku today: the Swedish-speaking

Åbo Akademi University Åbo Akademi University ( , ) is the only exclusively Swedish language multi-faculty university in Finland (or anywhere outside Sweden). It is located mainly in Turku (Åbo is the Swedish name of the city) but has also activities in Vaasa. Å ...

(founded in 1918) and the Finnish-speaking

University of Turku The University of Turku (, shortened ''UTU'') is a multidisciplinary public university with eight faculties located in the city of Turku in southwestern Finland. The university also has campuses in Rauma and Pori and research stations in Kevo ...

(1920), which both sometimes may claim an academic tradition at the location since the 17th century, in spite of a break for almost a century. File:Turun akatemian vihkiäiset1.jpg, Inauguration of the Turku Academy Part 1 (

Albert Edelfelt Albert Gustaf Aristides Edelfelt (21 July 1854 – 18 August 1905) was a Finnish Painting, painter noted for his naturalistic style and Realism (arts), Realist approach to art. He lived in the Grand Duchy of Finland and made Finnish culture visib ...

, 1902, painting in the ballroom of the University of Helsinki) File:Turun akatemian vihkiäiset2.jpg, Inauguration of the Turku Academy Part 2 File:Turun akatemian vihkiäiset3.jpg, Inauguration of the Turku Academy Part 3

References

External links

– retrieved 9 March 2014.
Pirkko Forsman Svensson: From monolingual to bi- and multilingual instruction at the University of Helsinki
{{DEFAULTSORT:Royal Academy Of Åbo, The 17th-century establishments in Finland University of Helsinki 19th century in Helsinki 1640 establishments in Sweden Deposit libraries 19th century in Turku

History

See also

Further reading

References

External links