Kalevala: The Epic of the Finnish People

Elias Lönnrot (1802-1884) was a Finnish physician, philologist and collector of traditional Finnish oral poetry. Lönnrot created the Kalevala, Finland's national epic, by recording and compiling fragments of folk tales, ballads, and other oral poems. Following the publication of the Kalevala, Lönnrot served as Professor of Finnish Language and Literature at the University of Helsinki. He tirelessly promoted the Finnish language and is credited with paving the way for modern Finnish literature. Jukka Korpela is Professor of History at the University of Eastern Finland. He has published ten monographs and more than 150 scientific articles on East European culture and history, including The World of Ladoga (Lit. Verlag: Berlin, 2008).Eino Friberg (1901-95) was a Finnish-born American author, noted for his 1989 translation the Kalevala.