On 12 November, the Estonian Ambassador to Finland, Janne Jõesaar-Ruusalu, inaugurated a relief dedicated to the Estonian national epic Kalevipoeg at the Kuopio City Library.
The first public edition of Kalevipoeg was printed in 1862 in Kuopio, at Johan Karsten’s printing house. About 120 years later, in 1983, a bronze memorial plaque designed and created by Finnish sculptor Paavo Halonen was installed on the wall of the former printing house. During renovations, the plaque was later transferred to the city archives.
“I am very pleased that the memorial plaque dedicated to the first edition of Kalevipoeg has found a new home in the beautiful Kuopio City Library. The timing could not be more fitting. This year we are also celebrating the 500th anniversary of the first book printed in Estonian,” said the Ambassador at the opening ceremony.
In the photo: Ambassador Janne Jõesaar-Ruusalu with Päivi Savinainen, Director of Kuopio City Library. Photographer: Vicente Serra
Director of the Kuopio City Library Päivi Savinainen added that placing the plaque in a library visited by over a million people each year carries strong symbolic meaning: “We are proud to be such an important part of Estonia’s cultural history.”
The inauguration of the memorial plaque took place in connection with the Ambassador’s visit to Kuopio, attended also by Tuija Keinonen, Honorary Consul of Estonia in Kuopio, and Grete Ahtola, Cultural Counsellor at the Embassy of Estonia.
During the visit, the Ambassador met with the leadership of the University of Eastern Finland and representatives of the Kuopio City Government, delivered a public lecture titled “Estonian Perspective on European Security”, and gave an interview to the newspaper Savon Sanomat.
On the same day, the Ambassador also attended a lecture by President Alexander Stubb of Finland, delivered at the University of Eastern Finland as part of the President’s regional visit to Kuopio.