August Alexander Järnefelt (2 April 1833 – 15 April 1896) was a Finnish general, topographist, governor and senator.

Early life

Aleksander Järnefelt was born in Tohmajärvi, the son of crown overseer Gustav Adolf Järnefelt and Aurora Fredrika Molander. Aleksander married Elisabeth Clodt von Jürgensburg on 22 December 1857 in

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 ...

. Their children were Kasper, Arvid,

Erik The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, Eirik, or Eiríkur is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Nor ...

, Ellida, Ellen, Armas, Aino, Hilja and Sigrid. Armas, Arvid and Eero were famous Finnish cultural figures. Aino Järnefelt was married to composer

Jean Sibelius Jean Sibelius (; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic music, Romantic and 20th-century classical music, early modern periods. He is widely regarded as his countr ...

Military life

After seven year's study in Hamina Cadet School, Järnefelt embarked on a career as an artillery officer in the

Russian Army The Russian Ground Forces (), also known as the Russian Army in English, are the Army, land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Forces are the protection of the state borders, combat on land, ...

. After working under Wilhelm von Struve at

Pulkovo Observatory The Pulkovo Astronomical Observatory (), officially named the Central Astronomical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences at Pulkovo, is the principal astronomical observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences. It is located 19 km south ...

, Järnefelt was commanded to topographic works in his native Finland which formed his main occupation for decades. By 1870, he was the head of the Russian topographic corps in Finland. During and after the Turkish war (1877–1879), Järnefelt lead the topographic survey of many areas which

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 ...

conquered from

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. These works, on which he also wrote a German-language scientific treatise ''Die astronomischen, geodätischen und topographischen Arbeiten auf der Balkanhalbinsel in der Jahren 1877, 1878 und 1879'', earned him a promotion to general major.

Statesmanship

In the 1880s, Järnefelt was transferred from the military to a civilian administrative career, which allowed him to further his political agenda. Järnefelt was the governor of Mikkeli Province in the 1883–84, the governor of Kuopio Province in 1884–88 and Vaasa Province in 1888–94. During these tenures, Järnefelt used his gubernatorial powers to change the language of civil administration of these provinces to Finnish (in the bilingual Vaasa Province, to bilingualism). In addition, he strove to establish primary schools and poor-houses in his provinces. Järnefelt's career culminated in the membership of the

Senate of Finland The Senate of Finland (; ) combined the functions of Cabinet (government), cabinet and supreme court in the Grand Duchy of Finland from 1816 to 1917 and in independent Finland from 1917 to 1918. The body that would become the Senate was establis ...

, where Järnefelt was tasked as the chief of the military affair's section. The promotion to senator was accompanied with promotion to the rank of a

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

. Järnefelt died at

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 ...

on 15 April 1896, of paralysis. Politically, Järnefelt was a

fennoman 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 the Old Finnish Party. The party strove for the equal rights of Finnish language with the Swedish while stressing the importance of loyalty to the Emperor. Järnefelt took these aims seriously, sending his children to Finnish-speaking schools which was extraordinary for a nobleman of his time.

References

*Kopponen, T. (2014
Järnefelt, Alexander
Biografiskt lexicon för Finland. Retrieved 2015-12-04. {{DEFAULTSORT:Jarnefelt, Alexander 1833 births 1896 deaths People from Tohmajärvi People from Kuopio Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) Swedish-speaking Finns Finnish people of German descent 19th-century Finnish nobility Finnish Party politicians Finnish senators Members of the Diet of Finland Finnish generals

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...