Elias Lönnrot (; 9 April 1802 – 19 March 1884) was a Finnish polymath, physician, philosopher, poet, musician, linguist, journalist,

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...

and collector of traditional Finnish oral poetry. He is best known for synthesizing the Finnish national epic, ''

Kalevala The ''Kalevala'' () is a 19th-century compilation of epic poetry, compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Karelian and Finnish oral folklore and mythology, telling a story about the Creation of the Earth, describing the controversies and retaliatory ...

'' (1835, enlarged 1849) from short

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

s and lyric poems he gathered from Finnish oral tradition during several field expeditions in Finland, Russian Karelia, the

Kola Peninsula The Kola Peninsula (; ) is a peninsula in the extreme northwest of Russia, and one of the largest peninsulas of Europe. Constituting the bulk of the territory of Murmansk Oblast, it lies almost completely inside the Arctic Circle and is border ...

and Baltic countries. In botany, he is remembered as the author of the 1860 ''Flora Fennica'', the first scientific text written in Finnish rather than in Latin.

Education and early life

Lönnrot was born in Sammatti, in the province of

Uusimaa Uusimaa (; , ; both lit. 'new land') is a region of Finland. It borders the regions of Southwest Finland, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme), and Kymenlaakso. Finland's capital and largest city, Helsinki, alo ...

, Finland, which was then part of Sweden. From 1814 to 1815, he attended the school of Tammisaari Pedagogio. He studied at Turku Cathedral School from 5April1816 until he dropped out in the spring of 1818. After dropping out, he worked as a tailor and singer in Sammatti and nearby villages. He joined the

Porvoo Porvoo (; ; ) is a city in Finland. It is located on the south coast of the country, on the Gulf of Finland. Porvoo lies in the eastern part of the Uusimaa region. The population of Porvoo is approximately , while the Porvoo sub-region, sub-re ...

Gymnasium on 20March1820 but left on 9April. For the next two years, he studied as an

apothecary ''Apothecary'' () is an Early Modern English, archaic English term for a medicine, medical professional who formulates and dispenses ''materia medica'' (medicine) to physicians, surgeons and patients. The modern terms ''pharmacist'' and, in Brit ...

student at

Hämeenlinna Hämeenlinna (; ; ; or ''Croneburgum'') is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Kanta-Häme. It is located in the southern interior of the country and on the shores of Vanajavesi, Lake Vanajavesi. The population of Hämeenlinna is appr ...

. In the summer of 1822, he lived in Sammatti as he prepared for the high school examination. On 11October1822, he enrolled in the Academy of Turku to study medicine. The Great Fire of Turku coincided with his first academic year. As the university was destroyed in the fire, it 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 ...

, the newly established administrative center of the

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 ...

. Lönnrot followed and graduated in 1832.

Career

Medicine

Lönnrot lived in the village of Paltaniemi, when he got a job as district doctor of

Kajaani Kajaani (; ), is a town in Finland and the regional capital of Kainuu. Kajaani is located southeast of Oulujärvi, Lake Oulu, which drains into the Gulf of Bothnia through the Oulujoki, Oulu River. The population of Kajaani is approximately , w ...

in Eastern Finland during a time of

famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food caused by several possible factors, including, but not limited to war, natural disasters, crop failure, widespread poverty, an Financial crisis, economic catastrophe or government policies. This phenom ...

and pestilence in the district.

Literature

He began writing about the early Finnish language in 1827 and began collecting folk tales from rural people around the same time. In 1831, the Finnish Literature Society was founded, and Lönnrot, being one of the founders, received financial support from the society for his efforts to collect folk tales. Lönnrot went on extended leaves of absence from his doctor's office; he toured the countryside of Finland, Sapmi (Lapland), and nearby portions of Russian Karelia. This led to a series of books: ''Kantele'', 1829–1831 (the ''

kantele A kantele () or kannel () is a traditional Finnish and Karelian plucked string instrument (chordophone) belonging to the southeast Baltic box zither family known as the Baltic psaltery along with the Estonian kannel, the Latvian kokles, t ...

'' is a Finnish traditional instrument); ''

'', 1835–1836 (the "old" Kalevala), an edited collection of epic poems collected orally and representing a

mythology Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

for Finland; '' Kanteletar'', 1840; ''Sananlaskuja'', 1842 (''Proverbs''); an expanded second edition of ''Kalevala'', 1849 (the "new" Kalevala). Lönnrot was recognised for his part in preserving Finland's oral traditions by appointment to the Chair of

Finnish Literature Finnish literature refers to literature written in Finland. During the European early Middle Ages, the earliest text in a Finnic language is the unique thirteenth-century Birch bark letter no. 292 from Novgorod. The text was written in Cyrilli ...

at 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 ...

in 1853.

Lexicography

Lönnrot undertook the task of compiling the first Finnish-Swedish dictionary (''Finsk-Svenskt lexikon'', 1866–1880). The result comprised over 200,000 entries, and many of the Finnish translations were coined by Lönnrot himself. His vast knowledge of traditional Finnish poetry made him a definite authority in Finland and many of his inventions have stuck. Finnish scientific terminology was in particular influenced by Lönnrot's work and therefore many abstract terms that have a Latin or Greek etymology in most other European languages appear as native

neologism In linguistics, a neologism (; also known as a coinage) is any newly formed word, term, or phrase that has achieved popular or institutional recognition and is becoming accepted into mainstream language. Most definitively, a word can be considered ...

s in Finnish. Examples from linguistics and medicine include ''kielioppi'' (grammar), ''kirjallisuus'' (literature), ''laskimo'' (vein) and ''valtimo'' (artery).

Botany

Lönnrot published the first Finnish-language ''Flora Fennica – Suomen Kasvisto'' ("Flora of Finland") in 1860; in its day it was famed throughout

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

, as it was among the first common-language scientific texts. The second, expanded version was co-authored by Thomas Saelan and published in 1866. The ''Flora Fennica'' is the first botanical science work published in Finnish (instead of Latin). In addition, it includes many notes on plant uses in between descriptions of flowers and leaves.

Impact

The Kalevala, the Finnish national epic that Lönnrot compiled, was among the inspirations for

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...

's the '' Silmarillion'' and ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...

''. Lönnrot was the main motif for the Finnish Elias Lönnrot and folklore commemorative coin, minted in 2002. On the reverse, a feather (as a symbol of an author) and Elias Lönnrot's signature can be seen. The Finnish graphic artist Erik Bruun used Lönnrot as a motif for the 500 markka

banknote A banknote or bank notealso called a bill (North American English) or simply a noteis a type of paper money that is made and distributed ("issued") by a bank of issue, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes were originally issued by commerc ...

in his banknote series. The Argentine author

Jorge Luis Borges Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo ( ; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator regarded as a key figure in Spanish literature, Spanish-language and international literatur ...

used the name Lönnrot, possibly alluding to the Finnish author, for the diligent detective in his story '' Death and the Compass'' (''La muerte y la brújula''). The main belt

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet—an object larger than a meteoroid that is neither a planet nor an identified comet—that orbits within the Solar System#Inner Solar System, inner Solar System or is co-orbital with Jupiter (Trojan asteroids). As ...

2243 Lönnrot was named after Lönnrot.

Gallery

File:Lonnrot4.jpg ,

Caricature A caricature is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way through sketching, pencil strokes, or other artistic drawings (compare to: cartoon). Caricatures can be either insulting or complimentary, ...

''One Man Saved Everything for Us by Running'' by A. W. Linsen, 1847 File:Flora Fennica 1860 - first plate.jpg , ''Flora Fennica'' compiled by Lönnrot, the first Finnish-language botanical science work published in 1860 File:Elias Lönnrot by Reinhold.jpeg , Portrait of Lönnrot by
, 1872 File:Akseli Gallen-Kallela - Lönnrot ja runonlaulajat, luonnos Helsingin yliopiston juhlasalin seinämaalaukseksi - A III 2154 - Finnish National Gallery.jpg , ''Lönnrot and the Oral Poets'', sketch of how he collected the materials for the ''

'' by

Akseli Gallen-Kallela Akseli Gallen-Kallela (born Axel Waldemar Gallén; 26 April 1865 – 7 March 1931) was a Finnish painter who is best known for his illustrations of the ''Kalevala'', the Finnish national epic poetry, epic. His work is considered a very importa ...

for murals for

, 1912

Publications

* *

Notes

References

External links

* * * * *
Lönnrot, Elias
''Biografiskt lexikon för Finland'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Lonnrot, Elias 1802 births 1884 deaths 19th-century Finnish botanists 19th-century Lutherans 19th-century lexicographers 19th-century musicologists Finnish Lutheran hymnwriters Finnish folk-song collectors Finnish folklore Finnish lexicographers Finnish naturalists Finnish philologists Karelian-Finnish folklore Linguists from Finland Lutheran poets Mythopoeic writers Paremiologists People from Lohja Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class) Swedish Lutheran hymnwriters 19th-century Finnish physicians