Julius Krohn

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Julius Leopold Fredrik Krohn (April 19, 1835 – August 28, 1888) was a Finnish folk poetry researcher, a professor of Finnish literature, a poet, a translator and a journalist. He was born in Vyborg. Krohn worked as a lecturer on Finnish language in Helsinki University from the year 1875 and as a supernumerary professor from 1885. He was one of the most notable researchers into finnish folk poetry in the 19th century. His native language was German.

Contents 1 Works and influence 1.1 Scientific work 2 Children 3 Publications 4 References

[edit] Works and influence

Krohn mostly preferred not to write under his foreign surname, but either adopted nom de plume, or worked as a part of a collective, such as the fennomans, which he was a leading member of. Under pseudonyms, he translated many of Johan Ludvig Runebergs works into Finnish, and it has been assumed that also the Finnish lyrics for the Finnish national anthem came from his pen.

Under his most notable pseudonym Suonio he published poetry; e.g. Mansikoita ja mustikoita 1856–61 ("Strawberries and blueberries") and Kuun tarinoita ("Tales of the moon"). As Suonio, he worked as editor of Suomen Kuvalehti and translated many of Sir Walter Scotts novels, such as A Legend of Montrose.

[edit] Scientific work

An important contribution to a history of Finnish literature was Krohn's doctoral thesis Suomenkielinen runollisuus ruotsinvallan aikana. Krohn was also the first to develop a scientific method for the study of folklore, the historic-geographic method.

Julius Krohn died by drowning in Bay of Vyborg in a yachting accident at the age of 53. His work with folklore and the Finnish language was continued by his son Kaarle Krohn, who published much of his scientific work posthumously. This work was further developed by their student Antti Aarne.

[edit] Children

Krohn's son Ilmari Krohn became a well known composer of church music. His daughter Aino married the Estonian nationalist Oskar Kallas and was known as a writer by the name Aino Kallas. Another daughter Helmi Krohn, also an author, married Eemil Nestor Setälä, later the acting head of state of Finland in November 1917, after the abduction of Nicholas II of Russia.

[edit] Publications

• Krohn, Julius (February 1981). Kaarle Krohn: Folklore Methodology: Formulated by Julius Krohn and Expanded by Nordic Researchers (Paperback), Roger L. Welsch (translator) (in English), Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press, 192. ISBN 0292724322.
• Etext books on-line at the Project Gutenberg site
  • Yrjö Aukusti Wallin ja hänen matkansa Arabiassa (in Finnish) Non fiction work on the world renoknowned ethnographer and adventurer Georg August Wallin
  • Maksimilian Aukusti Myhrberg (in Finnish)
  • Vanha tarina Montrosesta Finnish translation of A Legend of Montrose by Sir Walter Scott

[edit] References

• On the history of comparison in folklore studies
• Finnish Folklore Scholarship
• Maantieteellis-historiallinen metodi at the University of Helsinki site (in Finnish)
• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.