Mikael Agricola (1510 - 1557) Finnish clergyman who became de facto founder of written Finnish and one of the prominent proponents of Protestant Reformation in Finland.
When he studied in Viipuri he took as a surname Agricola ("farmer" gv. "agriculture"); surnames based on father’s status and occupation were common at the time. 1528 he followed his teacher Bartholomeus to Turku, the capital on the Finnish side of the Swedish realm, and became a scribe in the bishop’s office. In Turku he became familiar with ideas of humanism and reformation. He was presumably ordained for priesthood in 1531.
In 1536 the bishop of Turku sent him to study in Wittenberg in Germany. He concentrated on lectures of Melanchthon, who was expert in Greek, the original language of the New Testament. Agricola was already thinking about a Finnish version of the Bible. In Wittenberg he also met Martin Luther.
In 1539 Agricola returned to Turku and ended up as a rector of Turku University till 1548. At the time the king of Sweden Gustav Vasa had confiscated the property of church when he was consolidating his power but also supported the reformation. 1546 Agricola lost his home and school in the Great Fire of Turku[?]. At this time he was already married but history knows his wife only by name; Birgitta Olavintytär (“daughter of Olavi”) His only son Kristian was born December 11 1560.
1557 he joined the delegation that was going to Russia and was in Moscow from February 21 to March 24 negotiating a peace treaty. April 9 he died in the Kyrönniemi village on the Karelian Isthmus.
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