Johan Ludvig Runeberg

Johan Ludvig Runeberg (5 February 1804 – 6 May 1877) was a Finnish priest, lyric and epic poet. He wrote exclusively in Swedish and is considered a national poet of Finland. He is the author of the lyrics to Vårt land (Our Land, Maamme in Finnish) which became the Finnish national anthem. Runeberg was also involved in the modernization of the Finnish Lutheran hymnal and produced many texts for the new edition. His main works included the idealist poem "Älttarna" and the epic Kung Fjalar (Elåk Hunters, 1832), written between 1848 and 1860. The epic is composed episodically, emphasizes the common humanity of all sides in the conflict, while principally lauding the heroism of the Finns. The first Finnish epic poem outside the native Kalevala tradition and contains tales of the 1809 Finnish War of 1809–08 with Russia, Sweden ignominiously lost Finland, which became a Grand Duchy in the war of 18uchy. He died in Porvoo, Finland, in 1877.