Finnish Language Day (09/04)

Every year on April 9, Finns and Finnish language lovers around the world actively celebrate Mikael Agrikolan päivä/Michael Agricola's Day or Finnish Language Day. This day is not a day off in Finland, but the national flag is raised in the country.

The great Finnish educator Mikael Agricola (c. 1510 — April 9, 1557) was born in the Nüland parish of Pernaya. In 1536, Agricola went to Germany to study at the University of Wittenberg, in the city where the great German reformer Martin Luther lived and worked at that time. In 1539, having passed the exam, he was chosen rector of the Theological Academy of Turku (Cathedral school in Turku), and in 1554 — the first Lutheran bishop of Finland.

Agricola is credited with creating written Finnish. In 1543, he completed and published the first Finnish ABC, — ABC-kirja. Subsequently, this year began to be considered the year of birth of Finnish writing. Agricola took as a basis the Karelian language and the dialect spoken by the residents of Turku province.

The second book was a prayer book in Finnish. And in 1548, Agricola translated the New Testament into Finnish. In the preface he wrote: «The language of my people has always existed, I consider my merit only to transfer it to paper».

Agricola died in 1557 on the way from Moscow, where he was sent to negotiate with the Russian authorities about the location of the border line. Finnish Language Day is celebrated on the day of Agricola's death, as his date of birth is unknown.

Monument to Mikael Agricola in Turku (Photo: markovskiy, licensed from depositphotos.com)

The holiday itself in honor of Mikael Agricola was established in Finland in 1960, since 1978 it also began to be called Finnish Language Day, and since 1980, the national flag has been raised throughout the country on this day. In 2007, the achievements of the outstanding educator and reformer, the father of the Finnish written language, were marked by the issue of a collectible silver coin in denominations of 10 euros.

Today's holiday in schools and higher educational institutions in Finland is celebrated with lectures, seminars and Finnish language competitions. Libraries host readings and book presentations. Grateful descendants bring flowers to the monuments erected by Agricole in Vyborg, Turku and at the site of his death — on the shores of the Gulf of Finland.

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