Mikael Agricola Day
Mikael Agricola Day (Finnish: Mikael Agricolan päivä, Swedish: Mikael Agricoladagen) is celebrated in Finland on April 9th in honor of a Finnish Lutheran clergyman Mikael Agricola (c. 1510–1557).[1] Since 1978, the day is also celebrated in Finland as the Day of Finnish Language (Finnish: Suomen kielen päivä, Swedish: finska språkets dag), of which Agricola is known as the "father of literary Finnish"; Agricola created the written Finnish language by, among other things, writing the Abckiria (1543) and translating the New Testament (Se Wsi Testamenti, 1548).[2][3]
Departing from tradition, the day is observed on the anniversary of Mikael Agricola's death,[2] even though flags are usually flown in a person's honor on their birthday; this is because Agricola's exact date of birth is unknown. Mikael Agricola Day was officially added to the Finnish calendar in 1960.[4] April 9th is also the birthday of Elias Lönnrot, who compiled the The Kalevala, Finland's national epic.[1][2][4]
In honor of Agricola, the Agricola pastry was developed and unveiled on Agricola Day in 2014. The competition to design the pastry was organized by the Finnish Bible Society.[5]
See also
References
- 1 2 "Liputuspäivät" (in Finnish). Ministry of the Interior. Archived from the original on 10 December 2015. Retrieved 9 August 2026.
- 1 2 3 "Day of the Finnish Language". themayor.eu. 9 April 2019. Retrieved 9 August 2026.
- ↑ Virkki, Arja. "Mikael Agricolan päivä 9.4". Särkisalon Kuulutuslehti (in Finnish). Retrieved 9 August 2026.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - 1 2 Oja, Heikki (2007). Aikakirja 2007 (in Finnish). Helsinki: Helsingin yliopiston almanakkatoimisto. p. 186. ISBN 978-952-10-3221-9.
- ↑ Kiviranta, Varpu (23 April 2014). "Kirjakielen isä Agricola sai oman leivoksensa". Yle (in Finnish). Retrieved 9 August 2026.
External links
- Calling all fans of the Finnish language – thisisFINLAND