1835
The title page of the first edition of the Kalevala, 1835.Image: culture · Europe
Lönnrot signs the preface to the Kalevala
The country doctor Elias Lönnrot spent years collecting folk poems from singers in Finland and Karelia. He wove them into a single epic, the Kalevala, and signed its preface on 28 February 1835. The book gave Finns, then ruled by Russia, a national epic in their own language and fed a growing sense of identity. An expanded edition followed in 1849, and 28 February is celebrated in Finland as Kalevala Day, the day of Finnish culture.
Source: Kalevala Society: The Kalevala, an introduction ↗
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