Henrik Gabriel Porthan (8 November 1739 – 16 March 1804) was a professor and rector at the Royal Academy of Turku,

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, ...

, which was then part of the

Kingdom of Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic country by both area ...

. He was a scholar sometimes known as ''The Father of Finnish History''. Porthan's legacy greatly influenced the rise of the Finnish national culture and

romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...

of the early 19th century.

Biography

He was born at Viitasaari in Tavastia, Finland. His parents were Sigfrid Porthan and Kristina Juslenius. His father was a

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

who became mentally ill in 1744. He was raised by his uncle Gustaf Juslenius (1702–1774) who was the vicar of

Kronoby Kronoby (, ) is a municipality in Finland, located on the west coast of the country. Kronoby is situated in Ostrobothnia (administrative region), Ostrobothnia, along the Gulf of Bothnia. The population of Kronoby is approximately , while the Jakobs ...

Ostrobothnia County Ostrobothnia County (, ) was a county of 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 ...

. In 1754, at the age of 15, Porthan entered the Royal Academy of Turku (now

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 ...

). He was a student of professor Daniel Juslenius (1676–1752) who later served as the Bishop of Borgå. Porthan was awarded his Master of Philosophy in 1760. In 1762, he became an associate professor. He was a professor 1777–1804 and served as rector 1786–1787 and 1798–1799. He became a Fennophile and brought Finnish history-writing, study of

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 ...

and

folk poetry Folk poetry (sometimes referred to as ''poetry in action'') is poetry that is part of a society's folklore, usually part of their oral tradition. When sung, folk poetry becomes a folk song. Description Folk poetry in general has several characteri ...

, and other humanistic sciences to an international level. His ''De Poësi Fennica'' (published in five parts 1776-78), a study on Finnish folk poetry, had great importance in awakening public interest in the

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 ...

-poetry and

Finnish mythology Finnish mythology commonly refers of the folklore of Finnish paganism, of which a Finnish Neopaganism, modern revival is practiced by a small percentage of the Finnish people. It has many shared features with Estonian mythology, Estonian and othe ...

, and the study was also the basis of all later study of the poetry. He was among the founders of the Aurora Society that advocated Finnish literary pursuits and was the editor of the first Finnish newspaper, ''Tidningar ugifne af et sällskap i Åbo'', founded in 1771. He instructed Kristian Erik Lencqvist (1761–1808) whose 1782 dissertation ''De superstitione veterum Fennorum theoretica et practica'' was a seminal study of historic Finnish customs. Porthan was also the instructor of poet Frans Mikael Franzén (1772–1847) and also inspired the following generation of Finnish authors, poets and researchers, many of whom were among the founders of the Finnish Literature Society in 1831. Porthan died in Turku in 1804. The Porthania building of the University of Helsinki is named after Porthan.

Editions

The main edition of Porthan's works remains ''Opera selecta. Skrifter i urval'', ed. by Sven Gabriel Elmgren and Josef August Schauman, 5 vols (Helsingfors: Finska Litteratur-Sällskapets tryckeri, 1859–73). Scans of the original publications are now available via http://www.doria.fi.

References

External links

Lauri Henrik Gabriel Porthan in 375 humanists 15.02.2015, Faculty of Arts, University of Helsinki

Biography

Editions

See also

References

External links

Further reading