Rietrik Polén (23 April 1823 – 24 December 1884, Finnish: Rietrikki Polén) was a Finnish journalist and lecturer. He was particularly noteworthy for his outspoken support of the
Finnish nationalist movement in the mid-1800s.
Biography
Rietrik was born to Fredrik Polénin and Severina Blidberg in 1823, graduated high school in 1845, then studied Ancient Languages, History, and Geography 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 ...
where he earned a bachelor's and master's degree in 1850. As a student, he became interested in
Hegelian
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a 19th-century German idealist. His influence extends across a wide range of topics from metaphysical issues in epistemology and ontology, to political philosophy and the ...
ideas of national identity, leading to his involvement in
Finnish nationalism
Finnish nationalism was a central force in the history of Finland starting in the 19th century. The Finnish national awakening in the mid-19th century was the result of members of the Swedish-speaking upper classes deliberately choosing to promo ...
. He was an active participant in the
Finnish Literature Society
The Finnish Literature Society ( or ) was founded in 1831 to promote literature written in Finnish. Among its first publications was the ''Kalevala'', the Finnish national epic
A national epic is an epic poem or a literary work of epic s ...
, and did fieldwork in
Eastern Finland
Eastern Finland (, ) was a province of Finland from 1997 to 2009. It bordered the provinces of Oulu, Western Finland and Southern Finland. It also bordered Russia to the east.
History
On September 1, 1997, the Mikkeli Province, the Kuopio Pr ...
gathering folktales, songs, and
traditional magical spells.
He earned his PhD in 1858 with his dissertation, ''Johdanto Suomen kirjallisuushistoriaan'' (''Introduction to the History of Finnish Literature''). In this work, he declared, "Our nationality and culture demand that in Finland, scientific work must be carried out in Finnish." To this end, his dissertation was the first ever submitted in that language. (At the time, most academic discussions were conducted in Swedish or Latin.)
Polén spent the rest of his life teaching Finnish literature and publishing Finnish language newspapers, including the financially unsuccessful ''Suomen Lehteä'' (Finland Magazine), ''Mehiläinen'' (The Honeybee), and ''Pellervo''; he frequently contributed polemical articles to other newspapers as well. He also wrote a series of patriotic poems and essays, which were collected and published in ''Kirjallinen aarreaitta'' (The Treasure Trove). Polén died Christmas Eve, 1884. Interest in Polén has increased in recent years, and his nearly-forgotten tomb was renovated in 2004.
Bibliography
* 1858. ''Johdanto Suomen kirjallisuushistoriaan'' (''Introduction to the History of Finnish Literature'') Doctoral Dissertation: University of Helsinki. Full text (in Finnish) a
Project Gutenberg* 1869. ''Kirjallinen aarreaitta'' (''The Treasure Trove''), Vyborg Literature Society:Vyborg
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Polen, Rietrik
1823 births
1884 deaths
Journalists from the Russian Empire
People from Pieksämäki
Finnish journalists
University of Helsinki alumni