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Date of Birth: 20 September 1818 Place of Birth: Pori, western Finland Date of Death: 13 February 1872 Place of Death: Hämeenlinna, southern Finland BiographyGustaf Eurén was a many-sided linguist, historian, journalist and populariser, who spent his career teaching Hebrew, Greek and history at high schools (gymnasium) in Turku and Hämeenlinna. Born in 1818, he studied at Helsinki University, graduating in 1844. His extensive literary output includes a Hebrew grammar, two studies about ancient Jewish customs, a selection of the Arabian nights translated from European version…

'The life and teaching of Muḥammad' Gustaf Erik Eurén Date: 1856 Original Language: Finnish DescriptionIn the mid-19th century, an objective presentation of Islam was something unheard of in a strictly Lutheran country such as Finland. This book was published cautiously, with the name of its author omitted. In fact, Eurén had no special knowledge of the subject and therefore must have compiled it from Swedish or German sources. The book contains 120 pages and begins with a general description of Arabia and the Arabs. Muḥammad’s life is related in detail, with t…

Date of Birth: 11 December 1758 Place of Birth: Gunnilbo, Västmanland, Sweden Date of Death: 18 September 1834 Place of Death: Stora Tuna, Dalarna, Sweden BiographyBorn in 1758, Pehr Malmström studied at Uppsala University, gaining his MA in 1785, and became docent (lecturer) in practical philosophy there. He moved on to become professor of sacred languages (Hebrew and Greek) at the University of Turku in Finland from 1789 to 1795. Besides Hebrew and Greek, he eventually established the teaching of Arabic at the univers…

‘Babylon the great is fallen’ Enevald Svenonius Date: 1669 Original Language: Latin Description Babylon magna ruens is the first part in Enevald Svenonius’ large theological work in which he attempts to refute all doctrines that deviate from orthodox Lutheran Christianity. It was printed by the University of Turku in 1669, with the title Babylon magna ruens, Apoc. 18: 2.19, sue vox clamantis in aquilone adversus AntiChristum occidentalem (‘Babylon the Great is fallen, Rev. 18:2.19, or the voice of one crying in the north, against the western Antichrist’). Originally published as …

Rucouskiria Bibliasta'Prayer Book from the Bible' Michael Agricola Date: 1544 Original Language: Finnish Description This most original among the works of Agricola was mainly intended for priests so that they could conduct services in Finnish (its full title is Rucouskiria Bibliasta, se on, molemista Testamentista, Messuramatusta, ia muusta monesta, jotca toysella polella Luetellan, cokoonpoymettu Somen Turussa, 'Prayer Book from the Bible, i.e. put together from both Testaments, Missal [Aboense] and many others, listed on the other side, in Turku o…

‘Philosophical dissertation [consisting] of miscellaneous theses’ Petrus Laurentii Laurbecchius Date: 1684 Original Language: Latin Description Dissertatio philosophica theorematum miscellaneorum is a collection of separate theses, four of which are developed while a dozen are stated only briefly. It was printed by Turku University, at the expense of the student who was to defend the theses at a public examination, an event that took place at the Turku Royal Academy on 6 December 1684. Petrus Laurbecchius, as a professor at the Academy, wrote the Dissertatio in Latin for the …

Date of Birth: 30 January 1793 Place of Birth: Akaa, Finland Date of Death: 23 May 1874 Place of Death: Helsinki BiographyThe son of a modest clergyman from Tavastia, Ivar Ulrik Wallenius gained his MA at Turku in 1815, and was appointed to work in the university library. Then, from 1824 to 1852, he was a lecturer in Oriental literature, initially in Turku, then in Helsinki, after the university moved to the new capital in 1828. He seems to have been a very learned, but also a shy and reticent man, who remained unmarried and is hardly ever mentioned in contemporary memoirs.In his long life, he…

Biography Michael Agricola, reformer, bishop and father of the Finnish literary language, was the son of a wealthy farmer. After school in Viipuri and Turku, he was ordained priest and became an assistant to Bishop Skytte. In 1536-39, he studied at the University of Wittenberg under Luther, Melanchthon and others. Back in Turku, he was rector of the local school, again bishop’s assistant, and from 1554 to 1557 was bishop of Turku. He started the Lutheran reformation in Finland and wrote a considerable body of work to introduce and propagate its leading principles, i…

Biography Enevald Svenonius was born in Småland, Sweden, in 1617. After attending school in Kalmar and Växjö, in 1640 he followed his teacher and future father-in-law, Michael Wexio­nius, to the recently founded University of Turku. He was awarded his MA in 1647 and started teaching. In 1648-50 he studied Semitic languages at Uppsala, and then theology at Wittenberg under Abraham Calovius in 1651-4. In 1654, he toured central Europe for six months, briefly visiting no fewer than 28 universities. …

Petrus Laurentii Laurbecchius Date of Birth: 10 August 1628 Place of Birth: Gammalkil, Östergötland Date of Death: 16 April 1705 Place of Death: Vyborg, eastern Finland (present-day Russia) BiographyBorn in Sweden in 1628, Petrus Laurbecchius studied in Turku, Finland, completing his MA in 1661. His career at the Academia Aboensia (Royal Academy of Turku) followed a path typical of the times, passing through a range of fields, but ending in theology. Thus, he was professor of mathematics from 1666 to 1668, then of (Latin) …

‘A sample of the Qur’an in Arabic and Latin’ Pehr Malmström Date: 1793-4 Original Language: Arabic and Latin Description Specimen Alcorani arabice et latine comprises two fascicules, together 28 pages long, and gives the text of the Qur’an up to Q 2:48. In the preface, Malmström proudly announces his intention to publish the whole Qur’an, but his plan was interrupted when he moved to Stockholm. The text was based on printed editions and the two manuscripts of the Qur’an that were held in Turku, one bought in Central E…

‘Works’ Georg August Wallin Date: Before 1852 Original Language: Swedish DescriptionDuring his travels in Arabia, Wallin kept detailed diaries on all he witnessed, and also described his experiences in long letters to his teacher, Gabriel Geitlin, and to friends and relatives. The manuscript originals of these are now kept in the National Library of Finland.Before his death, Wallin began to prepare this material for publication, but he could only make a start, covering no more than the first eight days of his first expedition. This was published after his death by B.O. Schauman as Georg …

Gymnasium‘Intelligence brought into captivity, or rather the College for bringing human intelligence into captivity’, ‘College’ Enevald Svenonius Date: 1662 Original Language: Latin Description To noēma ’ēchmalōtismenon seu potius Gymnasium capiendae rationis humanae (the title is taken from 2 Corinthians 10:5) is a series of dissertations, comprising 343 pages, written by Svenonius in the manner customary at the time. These dissertations were defended by his students in 1658-62, and were published by the university, then kno…

'Sura 57 of the Qur’an in Arabic and Swedish' Ivar Ulrik Wallenius Date: 1816-19 Original Language: Arabic, Latin and Swedish DescriptionThis translation consists of two short fascicles, 12 and 8 pages long. The short text of Sura 57, only 29 verses, is taken from Ludovico Marracci’s edition of the Qur’an, with Wallenius’s own Swedish interpretation and copious notes in Latin. In the short introduction, Wallenius refers to the old idea of the usefulness of Arabic for a better understanding of Hebrew. SignificanceThe small booklet provided a second glimpse (after Pehr Malmstr…

Date of Birth: 24 October 1811 Place of Birth: Sund, Åland Islands Date of Death: 23 October 1852 Place of Death: Helsinki BiographyBorn the son of a district registrar in the Swedish-speaking Åland Islands, Georg Wallin began his studies at Helsinki University in 1829. As a student he was not particularly remarkable but he learned languages quickly and concentrated on Arabic, gaining his MA in 1836. Unlike the majority of his contemporaries, he was interested in the modern language. In his 1839 doctoral dissertation…

‘Index and judgement of religious syncretists’ Enevald Svenonius Date: 1675 Original Language: Latin Description Index et judex syncretismorum religionis, the third part of Enevald Svenonius’ comprehensive refutation of all heresies, paginated 665–848 and published by the Royal Academy of Turku, was dedicated to the refutation of syncretistic and heretical doctrines. It appeared as a series of essays in 1674-5 and was compiled mainly from 21 sources, but Svenonius’ main authority was Dannhauer (Johannes Conradus Dannhawerus: Mysterium syncretismi detecti, proscripti, e…