Georg August Wallin enrolled in the Imperial Alexander University in 1829. He studied classics and oriental languages, but also completed studies in English, German and French. Wallin graduated in 1836.

Georg continued his studies under the tutelage of Professor Gabriel Geitlin, a specialist in Persian and Hebrew. Besides his studies he worked as a teacher in a private school in Helsinki and as an ‘amanuensis extraordinarius’ in the University Library. In 1839 completed his doctoral thesis, which dealt with the differences between classical and contemporary Arabic. He was subsequently appointed docent of Oriental Literature.

In 1840 he moved to St Petersburg, where he continued with his studies on oriental languages and cultures under the guidance of the Egyptian-born Sheik Muhammad Ayyad al-Ṭantawi. Al-Tantawi’s accounts of life in Egypt only served to deepen Wallin’s interest in oriental cultures. Wallin decided to apply for funding from the University to explore the Middle East. Between 1943 and 1849 he explored Egypt, the Arabian peninsula and Persia. Wallin returned to Europe in 1849. On his way back to Finland he stopped off in London, where he had a chance to delve into the Arabic collections in the libraries. Whilst in London he wrote an English-language account of his most recent journey across the Empty Quarter. Wallin was awarded the prestigious Founder’s Medal by the Royal Geographical Society for his significant contribution to oriental research. The previous year’s medal had been awarded to David Livingstone.

In the following year the Society published in its periodical a version of Wallin’s account, Notes Taken During a Journey Through Part of Northern Arabia in 1848. Wallin was also able to complete his thesis whilst in London.

Upon his return to Finland in 1850, Wallin was appointed Professor of Oriental Literature. To help with his teaching, in 1851 he wrote a concise grammar of Arabic. His tenure was all too brief however as he fell ill and died only a year after taking up the post. During his lifetime Wallin was not accorded much attention in academic circles. The locus of ethnographic work among his Finnish contemporaries was almost entirely on Finno-Ugric peoples. Wallin was the first western scholar to study Bedouin poetry and dialects. Indeed, his writings long remained obscure to a broader international community of scholars since his notes were taken in Swedish.

Nowadays his work is greatly appreciated, especially in the Middle East. Notwithstanding earlier accounts of the Arab countries, Wallin is in many respects the first and only individual to have preserved for posterity references and descriptions of the localities and Bedouin tribes of the Arabian peninsula.

Sources:

• Kaj Öhrnberg, “Georg August Wallin. An Orientalist Between National and Imperial Orientalism”, in Bertil Tikkanen (ed.), Pūrvāparaprajñābhinandanam. East and West, past and present. Indological and other essays in honour of Klaus Karttunen, Studia Orientalia 110, Helsinki 2011, 309–316.
• Julius Krohn, Yrjö Aukusti Wallin ja hänen matkansa Arabiassa, Porvoo 1880. Gutenberg project. Accessed March 5, 2015. In Finnish.
• Kaj Öhrnberg, ’Wallin, Georg August (1811 - 1852) tutkimusmatkailija, itämaiden kirjallisuuden professori’, National Biography of Finland online. Accessed March 4, 2015. In Finnish.
• Georg August Wallin, Wikipedia. Accessed March 4, 2015. In Finnish.