Eino Viljami Panula

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Eino Viljami Panula
Born March 10, 1911
Flag of Finland Ylihärmä, South Ostrobothnia, Finland
Died April 15, 1912 (aged 1)
Atlantic Ocean
Other names Eino Viljam Panula
Eino William Panula
Known for The Unknown Child
Parents Juha Panula Sr. and Maria Emilia Ojala
Relatives Juho, Ernesti, Jaakko, Emma, Lyydia, Juha and Urho Panula (siblings)

Eino Viljami Panula (March 10, 1911–April 15, 1912) was a young Finnish boy who died during the sinking of the RMS Titanic. From 2002 to 2007, he was believed to be "The Unknown Child", the name given to the remains of a small boy recovered after the disaster.

Eino was traveling with his mother, Maria Emilia Panula (nee Ojala), and four older brothers, Ernesti Arvid (born 18 May 1895), Jaakko Arnold (born 8 February 1897), Juha Niilo (born 1 September 1904), and Urho Abraham (born 25 April 1909). Three other children died before the voyage: Juho Eemeli (23 October 1892 — 23 December 1892), Emma Iida (24 February 1901 — 8 April 1910) and Lyydia (December 1902 — May 1903)[1][2][3]

The family was heading to Coal Center, Pennsylvania to join their father, Juha. All six members perished in the disaster.

The American PBS television series Secrets of the Dead played a key role in the initial 2002 identification of Panula's identity as the "Unknown Child" when they featured the story of the unknown Titanic victim on an episode and traced the child's DNA to a Finnish woman by the name of Magda Schleifer whose grandmother's sister was Maria Emilia Panula.

On August 1, 2007 it was reported a test on the child's HVS1, a type of mitochondrial DNA molecule, did not match the Panula family.[4] The original DNA testing was proved wrong and researchers from Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario identified the boy as a 19-month-old English child, Sidney Leslie Goodwin, who was traveling on the Titanic with his family to start a new life in America.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Mrs Maija Emelia Abrahamintytar Panula
  2. ^ http://www.forensicgenealogy.info/contest_81_results.html Forensic Genealogy Book Contest]
  3. ^ Panula-Heinonen Family Tree
  4. ^ BBC News Report
  • Geller, Judith B. Titanic: Women and Children First. 1st ed. W. W. Norton & Company, 1998.

[edit] External links