Georg August Wallin (also Yrjö Aukusti Wallin, Abd al-Wali; 24 October 1811 – 23 October 1852)Georg August Wallin var vår första wallraffare
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Hufvudstadsbladet ''Hufvudstadsbladet'' (abbr. ''HBL'') is the highest-circulation Swedish language, Swedish-language newspaper in Finland. Its headquarters is located in Helsinki, the capital of Finland. The name of the newspaper translates approximately into "Jo ...

'' (in Swedish) was a Finnish orientalist, explorer and professor remembered for his journeys in South-West Asia during the 1840s. The Finnish translators of Wallin's letters state that Wallin has become a kind of "patron saint of Finnish oriental research". Among other things, the holds its annual meeting on his birthday. Internationally, it has been estimated that Wallin was one of the most capable Europeans to set foot in

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

. His qualifications have been compared to those of U. J. Seetzen and

J. L. Burckhardt Johann Ludwig (also known as John Lewis, Jean Louis) Burckhardt (24 November 1784 – 15 October 1817) was a Swiss traveller, geographer and Orientalist. Burckhardt assumed the alias ''Sheikh Ibrahim Ibn Abdallah'' during his travels in Arabia ...

, because he has been characterized as an Arabian scholar as the first modern explorer to prepare carefully for his mission, with no intention of leaving anything new to be said to his future. Wallin's notes were detailed, but he did not carry other research tools with him. Kaj Öhrnberg notes in his book that Wallin's international reputation was at its highest right after his research trips. He was the first to collect

Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu ( ; , singular ) are pastorally nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia (Iraq). The Bedouin originated in the Sy ...

poetry and make observations of Bedouin dialects; his observations of Arabic phonetics remained important until the 20th century; he was the first to delve into the study of spoken Arabic. Today, however, Wallin has become a footnote to textbooks after research has gone past him.

Biography

Wallin was born in the municipality of

Sund, Åland Sund is a municipalities of Finland, municipality of Åland. It is an Autonomous area, autonomous territory of Finland, and one of the official 27 national landscapes of Finland. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of w ...

, in 1811, and his parents were

registrar A registrar is an official keeper of records made in a register. The term may refer to: Education * Registrar (education), an official in an academic institution who handles student records * Registrar of the University of Oxford, one of the sen ...

Israel Wallin (1777–1839) and Johanna Maria Ahrenberg (1779–1854). He attended Cathedral School of Åbo in

Turku Turku ( ; ; , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Aura River (Finland), River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately , while t ...

and moved to

Rauma Rauma may refer to: Places * Rauma, Finland, a town and municipality in the Satakunta region of western Finland * Rauma Municipality, a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway * Rauma (river), a river in the Romsdalen valley in Møre og Ro ...

with the school after the

Great Fire of Turku The Great Fire of Turku (; ; ) was a conflagration in the city of Turku in 1827. It is still the largest urban fire in the history of Finland and the Nordic countries. The city had faced several large fires before, including an especially devast ...

in 1827. The following year, however, he dropped out of school and studied privately. In 1829, he enrolled to study Oriental Languages 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 ...

, graduating with an MA in 1836. He then began writing a dissertation about

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

and

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

, while working as a librarian in the university library. In 1839, he travelled to

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

, where he met Sheikh and learned more about the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

Georg August Wallin tombstone 2020-11-24

He travelled via Marseille and Alexandria to the in 1843 to

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

, where he got to know the customs of the Middle East and the rudiments of Islam. He adopted a simple way of life and passed himself off as a Muslim, taking the name Abd al-Wali, to allow him to get closer to his subjects. While many people believe Wallin converted to

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

, there is no proof to support this claim in his diaries and letters, and his writings rather indicate scepticism toward religion. His grave in

Hietaniemi cemetery The Hietaniemi cemetery (, ) is located mainly in the Lapinlahti quarter and partly in the Etu-Töölö district of Helsinki, the capital of Finland. It is the location for Finnish state funeral services and is owned by the Evangelical Luthe ...

, a Christian cemetery in Helsinki, simply displays his name, ''Georg Aug. Wallin'', with his Arabic name ''Abd al-Wali'' in Arabic letters beneath it. In 1845, he began his first expedition, to visit

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

, a city forbidden to non-

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

s. This expedition took him from Cairo via

Ma'an Ma'an () is a city in southern Jordan, southwest of the capital Amman. It serves as the capital of the Ma'an Governorate. Its population was approximately 41,055 in 2015. Civilizations with the name of Ma'an have existed at least since the Nab ...

, Al-Jauf,

Jubba A thawb, also known as a dishdashah or a kandura in other varieties of Arabic, is a garment traditionally worn by men in the Arab world. It is a long-sleeved, ankle-length robe that has regional variations in name and style. It can be worn in fo ...

and Ha'il to

Medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

, Mecca and

Jeddah Jeddah ( ), alternatively transliterated as Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; , ), is a List of governorates of Saudi Arabia, governorate and the largest city in Mecca Province, Saudi Arabia, and the country's second largest city after Riyadh, located ...

, from where he returned to Cairo. On his second expedition in 1846, he visited

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

and

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

. His third expedition in 1847 had been intended to explore the

Wahhabi Wahhabism is an exonym for a Salafi revivalist movement within Sunni Islam named after the 18th-century Hanbali scholar Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. It was initially established in the central Arabian region of Najd and later spread to other ...

region of

Najd Najd is a Historical region, historical region of the Arabian Peninsula that includes most of the central region of Saudi Arabia. It is roughly bounded by the Hejaz region to the west, the Nafud desert in Al-Jawf Province, al-Jawf to the north, ...

, but on reaching Ha'il he realized that his identity as a Muslim had been compromised, so he turned north and travelled in

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

and

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

before returning via

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

and

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

to Cairo in 1849. By 1850, Wallin had returned to Europe, where the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

published his ''Notes taken during a Journey through part of Northern Arabia'' and awarded him a 25

guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

prize in recognition of his ground-breaking research. Wallin completed his doctoral thesis in 1851 and was subsequently appointed Professor of Oriental Literature at the University of Helsinki. He was asked by both the Royal and Russian Geographical Societies to mount another expedition to the Middle East, but he declined, perhaps in part due to failing health. He wrote that he found European culture oppressive and that he "couldn't adapt imelf to Europe any more". Wallin died unexpectedly on 23 October 1852, only three years after his return to Finland and a day before his forty-first birthday. Wallin's collected journey writings were published posthumously in the 1860s, edited by S. G. Elmgren. A complete edition of his writings was published in

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

(partially in translations) during 2010–2017. An English-language and an Arabic-language translation of this edition are being planned.

Bibliography

* ''Notes Taken During a Journey Though Part of Northern Arabia in 1848''. Published by the

in 1851.
Online version.
* ''Narrative of a Journeys From Cairo to Medina and Mecca by Suez, Arabia, Tawila, Al-Jauf, Jubbe, Hail and Nejd, in 1845'', Royal Geographical Society, 1854 * William R. Mead, ''G. A. Wallin and the Royal Geographical Society'', Studia Orientalia 23, 1958. * Georg Wallin, reprinted in ''Travels in Arabia'', New York: Oleander Press, 1979: ** ''Notes taken during a Journey through part of Northern Arabia'', Journal of the

20, 1851. ** ''Narrative of a Journey from Cairo to Medina and Mecca'', Journal of the

Royal Asiatic Society The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, commonly known as the Royal Asiatic Society, was established, according to its royal charter of 11 August 1824, to further "the investigation of subjects connected with and for the encourag ...

24, 1854. ** ''Narrative of a Journey from Cairo to Jerusalem'', Journal of the Royal Geographical Society 25, 1855. *''Georg August Wallins Reseanteckningar från Orienten, åren 1843–1849: Dagbok och bref.'' (Four volumes.) Efter resandens död utgifna af S. G. Elmgren. Helsingfors 1864–1866. *
Yrjö Aukusti Wallin ja hänen matkansa Arabiassa
' by

Julius Krohn Julius Leopold Fredrik Krohn (19 April 1835 – 28 August 1888) was a Finnish folk poetry researcher, professor of Finnish literature, poet, hymn writer, translator and journalist. He was born in Viipuri and was of Baltic German origin. Krohn ...

(at

Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg (PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks." It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the oldest digital li ...

). * Wallin, Georg August: ''Skrifter 1: Studietiden och resan till Alexandria.'' Utgivna av Kaj Öhrnberg och Patricia Berg under medverkan av Kira Pihlflyckt, Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland, Helsingfors 2010.
Online version.
* Wallin, Georg August: ''Skrifter 2: Det första året i Egypten 1843–1844''. Utgivna av Kaj Öhrnberg och Patricia Berg under medverkan av Kira Pihlflyckt, Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland, Helsingfors 2011.
Online version.
* Wallin, Georg August: ''Skrifter 3: Kairo och resan till Övre Egypten 1844–1845''. Utgivna av Kaj Öhrnberg och Patricia Berg under medverkan av Kira Pihlflyckt, Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland, Helsingfors 2012.
Online version.
* Wallin, Georg August: ''Skrifter 4: Färderna till Mekka och Jerusalem 1845–1847''. Utgivna av Kaj Öhrnberg och Patricia Berg under medverkan av Kira Pihlflyckt, Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland, Helsingfors 2013.
Online version.
* Wallin, Georg August: ''Skrifter 5: Norra Arabiska halvön och Persien 1847–1849''. Utgivna av Kaj Öhrnberg, Patricia Berg och Kira Pihlflyckt, Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland, Helsingfors 2014.
Online version.
* Wallin, Georg August: ''Skrifter 6: Resan hem via London 1849–1850''. Utgivna av Kaj Öhrnberg, Patricia Berg och Kira Pihlflyckt, Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland, Helsingfors 2015.
Online version.
* Wallin, Georg August: ''Skrifter 7: Professorsåren i Helsingfors 1850–1852''. Utgivna av Kaj Öhrnberg, Patricia Berg och Kira Pihlflyckt, Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland, Helsingfors 2016.
Online version.
* Wallin, Georg August: ''Skrifter: Appendix. Material nedtecknat på Arabiska halvön 1845–1848''. Utgivna av Kaj Öhrnberg, Patricia Berg och Kira Pihlflyckt, Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland, Helsingfors 2017.
Online version.

Literature

* Patricia Berg, Sofia Häggman, Kaj Öhrnberg, Jaakko Hämeen-Anttila & Heikki Palva; Nina Edgren-Henrichson (Editor): ''Dolce far niente in Arabia: Georg August Wallin and His Travels in the 1840s.'' Museum Tusculanum Press, University of Copenhagen 2014. ISBN 978-87-635-4304-0 *

References

External links

Georg August Wallin.
375 humanists on 7 March 2015. University of Helsinki. {{DEFAULTSORT:Wallin, Georg August 1811 births 1852 deaths Academic staff of the University of Helsinki Arabists Burials at Hietaniemi Cemetery Christian Hebraists 19th-century explorers from the Russian Empire Explorers of Arabia Explorers of Asia Finnish explorers Finnish orientalists Hajj accounts Scholars from the Russian Empire Writers from Åland Expatriates in Egypt Expatriates in Saudi Arabia Finland–Saudi Arabia relations