Elias Lonnrot

Elias Lönnrot (1802--1884) was a Finnish philologist and collector of traditional Finnish oral poetry. He is best known for composing the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic.

Lönnrot was born April 9, 1802 in Sammatti, Nyland, Finland. He studied medicine at the universities of Åbo and Helsinki and became a practicing physician. His true passion, however, lay in language. He began writing about the early Finnish language in 1827 and began collecting folktales from the rural people about that time.

Lönnrot toured the countryside of Finland, Sapmi (Lapland), and nearby portions of Russia to support his collecting efforts. This led to a series of books: Kantele, 1829--1831 (Folk Songs); Kalevala, 1835--1836 (Land of Heroes, but better known as the "old" Kalevala); Kanteletar, 1840 (Lyric Poems); Sananlaskuja, 1842 (The Proverbs of Finland); an expanded second edition of Kalevala, 1849 (the "new" Kalevala); and Finske-Svenskt lexikon, 1866--1880 (Finnish-Swedish Dictionary).

Lönnrot was recognised for his part in preserving Finland's oral traditions by appointment as the Chair of Finnish Literature at the [University of Helsinki]?. He died on March 19, 1884 in Nyland.