Toivo Immanuel Itkonen (20 January 1891 – 12 May 1968) was a Finnish

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

and linguist, specializing in the

Sami languages Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ...

and the history of the

Sami people Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ...

. Itkonen was born in

Pulkkila Pulkkila is a former municipality and a village located in Northern Finland. Pulkkila is the administrative center of the municipality of Siikalatva and belongs to the region of Northern Ostrobothnia. The village is located south from Oulu and ...

. His father, Lauri Arvid Itkonen (1865–1925), was the curate of the Lutheran church of

. Lauri Itkonen and his six children moved to Inari during the spring of 1899, when Lauri received the post of rector of the Inari church. It was here that Toivo first began his education with a home tutor and then in 1901, moved to

Oulu Oulu ( , ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of North Ostrobothnia. It is located on the northwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Oulujoki, River Oulu. The population of Oulu is approximately , while the Oulu sub-regio ...

to begin secondary school. He graduated from Oulu secondary school in 1910. In 1913 he graduated from 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 ...

with a bachelor's degree in philosophy. In 1916 he received his master's degree and in 1923, his Doctorate. During 1911–1949, Itkonen made 9 research trips to Lapland. He also made research trips to central Europe (1929) and Scandinavia (1931 and 1934). His last research trip was to Italy, in 1955. Based on his research in Lapland, Itkonen published the two part "The Lapps in Finland up to 1945 Vol. 1 & 2" in 1948. Toivo Itkonen was married to Amanda Seppänen, with whom he had three children, Terho, Marja and Kerttu. He died 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 ...

, aged 77.

References

T.I. Itkonen
, ''Anaras – The Inari Sami'',

Siida A is an organisation of humans traditionally present in Sámi people, Sámi societies consisting of several families of reindeer herders whose reindeer graze together. s traditionally encompassed more resources than reindeer, but after changes ...

website. 1891 births 1968 deaths People from Siikalatva People from Oulu Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) 20th-century Finnish historians Finnish Finno-Ugrists Linguists from Finland Linguists of Sámi Sámi history University of Helsinki alumni 20th-century Finnish linguists {{Finland-historian-stub