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Hannu Remes. August Ahlqvist and Estonian |
2007, nr. 6 |
August Ahlqvist, one of the best-known 19th
century scholars of Finnish and other Finno-Ugric languages, belonged
to the most prominent and meritorious Estophils of the time. His
interest in Estonian was first inspired by Votic, which is the
language closest related to Estonian. In 1854 he visited Estonia.
Staying mainly in Tartu he learnt some Estonian and read up on
Estonian literature. The next year, when back in Helsinki, he
published a book on the history of Estonian literature, also usable
as an Estonian textbook. Having become Assistant Professor of
Finno-Ugric languages at the University of Helsinki in 1859 he
turned more attention to the teaching of Estonian. In 1863 August
Ahlqvist was elected Professor of Finnish language and Literature,
after which he extended the teaching of cognate languages, including
Estonian, even more. He was also active in producing teaching
materials. In 1869 he published a reader of closely related languages.
His Suomen kielen rakennus ("Finnish Grammar")
published in 1877 contains, among else, a comparative analysis
of the Estonian language. Throughout his life August Ahlqvist
maintained close connections with Estonian scholars and cultural
figures. Thanks to his help, for example, Jakob Hurt was able
to defend his doctoral thesis at the University of Helsinki and
Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald could publish his main works in
Finland.
Keywords: August Ahlqvist, Estonian,
Estonian literature.
Hannu Remes (b. 1943), FL, University of Joensuu,
Department of Finnish Language and Cultural Research, lecturer
hremes@joyx.joensuu.fi
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