The Statue of Johan Ludvig Runeberg is a statue dedicated to the Finland-Swedish author, national poet and priest Johan Ludvig Runeberg (1804–1877), designed and sculpted by his son Walter Runeberg (1838–1920). The statue is located in the Esplanadi park in Helsinki.
Location | Esplanadi, Helsinki |
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Designer | Walter Runeberg |
Inauguration date | 6 May 1885 |
Runeberg is depicted aged around of 55, dressed in a priest's coat. His right hand is on his chest, as if he would deliver a speech.
By the foot of the pedestal there is a young woman wrapped in bearskin, symbolising Maiden of Finland. She is holding a laurel wreath and an inscription with the words of three verses of the Finnish national anthem in Runeberg's native language Swedish.[1]
Swedish original | English translation |
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Vårt land, vårt land, vårt fosterland, |
Our land, our land, our Fatherland! |
The memorial offers no evidence of the identity of the person it depicts, since it was considered to be self-evident at the time.[1]
A year after the poet's death, a committee with Zacharias Topelius as secretary commissioned a memorial from Walter Runeberg. The sculptor was working in Paris at the time. His draft was approved in 1882 and cast twice in bronze in Paris.[1]
The statue of Runeberg was unveiled in front of 20 000 people on May 6, 1885, eight years after the poet's death. A second statue of Runeberg was unveiled on May 30 of the same year in his hometown Porvoo.[3]
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