Normal Lyceum of Helsinki (In Finnish; Helsingin normaalilyseo) is a

school A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...

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 ...

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, ...

, consisting of the upper part of

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

(''peruskoulun yläaste'', grades 7 to 9) and

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

(''lukio''). Unlike most other schools in Helsinki, the school is not owned by the city of Helsinki, but is instead part of 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 ...

, which itself is owned directly by the state of Finland. The school is considered one of the most prestigious. It is the hardest to get into, in the entire country, tied with Ressun Lukio. The established nickname for the school is ''Norssi'', which also means a student of the school. Former students who have graduated from the school are called ''vanha Norssi'' (Finnish for "old Norssi"). The school has a constant, good-natured rivalry with Ressun lukio (Ressu Upper Secondary School, previously known as "Helsingin reaalilyseo") and

Helsingin Suomalainen Yhteiskoulu , commonly abbreviated SYK (English: "Helsinki Finnish co-educational school"), is a private and free elementary, middle and high school in the Etelä-Haaga district of Helsinki, Finland. History SYK was founded in 1886. Its roots trace back t ...

which are considered even more prestigious than the Normal Lyceum by some.

History

The Helsinki normal lyceum was initially conceived in the autumn of 1867, when Finnish-speaking classes were added to the

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 ...

normal lyceum of Helsinki. Because of linguistic political reasons, the Finnish classes were ordered to be discontinued in 1871, but the Finnish schooling continued directly in a privately owned Helsinki Finnish Primary School. In the autumn of 1878, the Primary School moved to a newly built school building at Ratakatu 2 in

Punavuori Punavuori (; ) is a neighbourhood in the center of Helsinki, the capital of Finland. The name Punavuori () refers to red cliffs located between Sepänkatu and Punavuorenkatu. They were still visible in the 19th century, nowadays they are covered w ...

, Helsinki. In 1887, the Primary School became state-owned and was named the Helsinki Finnish Normal Lyceum. The school went through several name changes until finally becoming the Helsinki Normal Lyceum on January 1, 1995. The school operated at Ratakatu 2 from 1887 to 1905 until it moved to a new building at Ratakatu 4 (nowadays Ratakatu 6). In the spring of 2006 teaching started again in the old school building at Ratakatu 6a, which has been completely renovated and modernized. At the same time a phased renovation of the school building at Ratakatu 6b started. Currently the teaching takes place at Ratakatu 6a and in some parts of Ratakatu 6b.

Notable alumni

Matti Klinge Matti Klinge (31 August 1936 – 5 March 2023) was a Finnish historian. Klinge studied at the University of Helsinki and gained his Doctor of Philosophy, Ph.D. in 1969. He later served as a visiting professor at the University of Paris (1970&nda ...

, professor of history *

J.K. Paasikivi Juho Kusti Paasikivi (, 27 November 1870 – 14 December 1956) was a Finnish politician who served as the seventh president of Finland from 1946 to 1956. Representing the Finnish Party until its dissolution in 1918 and then the National Coalitio ...

, politician and diplomat *

Lasse Pöysti Lasse Erik Pöysti (; 24 January 1927 – 5 April 2019) was a Finnish actor, director, theatre manager and writer. He was born in Sortavala. Biography Pöysti began his career as a child actor, becoming known to the Finnish public as Olli Su ...

, actor and playwright *

Pentti Saarikoski Pentti Saarikoski (Pitkyarantsky District, Impilahti, now in the Republic of Karelia September 2, 1937 – Joensuu August 24, 1983) was a Finnish poet. He is considered one of the most important poets in the literary scene of Finland during t ...

, poet *

Erkki Salmenhaara Erkki Olavi Salmenhaara (March 12, 1941 – March 19, 2002) was a Finnish composer and musicologist. Personal life Salmenhaara was born in Helsinki, Finland, and married Anja Kosonen in 1961. They had two sons, but divorced in 1978. Salmenhaara ...

, professor or musicology and composer * Toivo J. Särkkä, film director and producer *

Mika Waltari Mika Toimi Waltari (; 19 September 1908 – 26 August 1979) was a Finnish writer, best known for his best-selling novel ''The Egyptian'' (). He was extremely productive. Besides his novels he also wrote poetry, short stories, crime novels, plays, ...

, author

Trivia

Right next to the school is a

gas station A filling station (also known as a gas station [] or petrol station []) is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold are gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Fuel dispensers are used to ...

, which was used as the scenery for the fictional

café A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café (), is an establishment that serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually called ''nargi ...

''"Wanha Bensis"'' in the Finnish drama series ''

Kotikatu ''Kotikatu'' (''The Home Street'') is a Finland, Finnish drama television series which aired on Yle TV1 from August 24, 1995 to December 7, 2012. ''Kotikatu'' was titled as "a semi-soap opera". It is the second longest running Finnish drama televi ...

''.

External links

Official home page
{{Coord, 60, 9, 45.5, N, 24, 56, 36.5, E, type:edu_region:FI-ES, display=title Schools in Helsinki Secondary schools in Finland Ullanlinna 1867 establishments in Finland Educational institutions established in 1867