Rafael Hertzberg (18 September 1845 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 ...

– 5 December 1896 in

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 ...

) was a

Finland-Swedish Finland Swedish or Fenno-Swedish (; ) is a Variety (linguistics), variety of the Swedish language and a closely related group of Swedish dialects spoken in Finland by the Swedish-speaking population of Finland, Swedish-speaking population, common ...

writer, translator, historian, businessman, inventor, and publicist.

Biography

Rafael Hertzberg studied at the

Imperial Alexander University 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 Tsar Al ...

(current

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 graduated with a

licentiate degree A licentiate (abbreviated Lic.) is an academic degree present in many countries, representing different educational levels. The Licentiate (Pontifical Degree) is a post graduate degree when issued by pontifical universities and other universitie ...

in 1889. He worked as a literature, theater, and art critic at '' Helsingfors Dagblad'' from the end of the 1860s and from 1875–1888 as the newspaper's cultural editor. He later worked at ''

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 ...

'' and was offered the position of chief editor in 1890. In the 1890s, Hertzberg was also acting as a Finnish agent for foreign life insurance companies. He also designed a typewriter which was manufactured and marketed by Husqvarna under the trade name Sampo during 1894–95. As a translator, he initially devoted himself to traditional Finnish folk songs. He performed the first Swedish translation of the play ''

A Doll's House ''A Doll's House'' (Danish language, Danish and ; also translated as ''A Doll House'') is a three-act Play (theatre), play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It premiered at the Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 21 De ...

'' by

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright, poet and actor. Ibsen is considered the world's pre-eminent dramatist of the 19th century and is often referred to as "the father of modern drama." He pioneered ...

(1880). He wrote the

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

for

Jean Sibelius Jean Sibelius (; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic music, Romantic and 20th-century classical music, early modern periods. He is widely regarded as his countr ...

’ sole opera, '' Jungfrun i tornet'' (1896). He also wrote plays, including dramatizations of the poems of

Johan Ludvig Runeberg Johan Ludvig Runeberg (; 5 February 1804 – 6 May 1877) was a Finnish priest, lyric and epic poet. He wrote exclusively in Swedish. He is considered a national poet of Finland. He is the author of the lyrics to (''Our Land'', in Finnish) whi ...

. He is today mostly known for writing the lyrics of the Christmas song ''

Julpolska Julpolska, also known as '' Nu ha vi ljus här i vårt hus'', is a Christmas song with lyrics by Rafael Hertzberg (1845–1896) and music by Johanna Ölander (1827–1909). Song lyrics describe Christmas Eve, dated from a time when the Christm ...

'' ("Nu ha vi ljus här i vårt hus") with music by Johanna Ölander (1827-1909). He died in 1896 and was buried at

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 ...

in the Etu-Töölö district of Helsinki.

Works

* ''Ett litet häfte sagor'' af tz. (1872) * ''Fru Karin på Liuksiala'' (1873) * ''Sång och saga'' (1874) * ''Kalevala, berättad för ungdom'' (1875) * ''Ur lifvets vår'' (1875) * ''Finlands historia i korthet framstäld'' (1876) * ''Smärre skizzer'' (1879) * ''Dikter'' (1880) * ''Skämt och allvar för ung och gammal'' (1880) * Joulun joutu-ajalla (1881) * ''Finska konstnärer'' (1883) * ''Julgubben och tomtarne'' (1883) * ''Seger'' (1883) * ''Två vänner'' (1883) * ''I qvinnofrågan'' (1884) * ''Nordenskiölds resor och äfventyr i polarhafven'' (1884) * ''Nya dikter'' (1884) * ''Kulturbilder ur Finlands historia. 1'' (1885) * ''Frankrike'' (1886) * ''Genom de svartes verldsdel'' (1886) * ''Lefnadsteckningar för ungdom och för folket'' (1886) * ''Helsingfors-Monaco'' (1887) * ''Statsrådet'' (1887) * ''Helsingfors för 300 år sedan och i våra dagar'' (1888–1889) * ''Kulturbilder ur Finlands historia'' (1888) * ''Landtdagsvalet'' (1888) * ''Löjtnanten'' (1888) * ''Professorer och studenter'' (1888) * ''Pyreneiska halfön'' (1889–1890) * ''Två finska barns äfventyr under en resa kring jorden'' (1889) * ''Vidskepelsen i Finland på 1600-talet'' (1889) * ''De gamla egypternas religion'' (1890) * ''Knekt och bonde'' (1890) * ''Barndomshemmet'' (1892) * ''För smått folk'' (1895) * ''En majdag i Helsingfors'' (1896) * ''Rafael Hertzbergs samlade barnbibliotek'' (1901) * ''Vårt land med flere dramatiseringar'' (1901)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hertzberg, Rafael 1845 births 1896 deaths Finnish translators 19th-century Swedish translators Finnish inventors Public relations people 19th-century Finnish historians 19th-century Finnish businesspeople Writers from Turku Finnish lyricists Opera librettists Swedish-speaking Finns