Jorma Kaimio
Humanist of the day

Jorma Kaimio

Is the only place for a researcher in the humanities to be found in a university? Jorma Kaimio, Classics scholar, left the groves of academe to spread his wings as a businessman. At the age of 25 he defended his thesis on the ousting of the Etruscan language. His main academic work was about the position of the Greek language in the Roman Empire. Upon completion, he became managing director of the Akateeminen bookshop, and, further in his career, literary director and, thereafter, president of the leading Finnish publisher WSOY. In retirement he moved to the rectory in Rantasalmi, in central Finland, and got back to his research on Etruscan gravestones and carbonised papyrus rolls found at the ancient site at Petra in Jordan.

Jorma Kaimio

Jorma Juhani Kaimio
Born July 13, 1946, Helsinki

Master of Arts (1967) (Roman literature), Licentiate of Philosophy (1969) and Doctor of Philosophy (1972), University of Helsinki
Secretary, Matriculation Examination Board (1969-72)
Acting Associate Professor of Roman literature (1977)
Managing Director of the Akateeminen bookshop (1980-90)
Literary Director and Vice President at WSOY (1990-2000), President (2000-06)

Publications, research projects and other academic activities

Research interests:
What became of the Etruscans and their language under Rome’s tightening grip?
Latin and Greek as languages of the Roman Empire
The publication of Greek-language papyrus rolls

Awards and special achievements:
University of Helsinki, Senior of the Year 1997

Photo: WSOY:n kuva-arkisto
Written by Jorma Kaimio
Translated by John Calton, Kaisla Kajava and Johanna Spoof
Revised by John Calton.

Tombstones Tell the Story of the End of the Etruscan Civilisation

I was nineteen years old and attending an academic course organised by the Institutum Romanum Finlandiae when I first held an Etruscan gravestone in my hands. Now, almost fifty years on, they continue to fascinate me. My doctoral thesis dealt with the shift in the language used in the epitaph from Etruscan to Latin on these monuments. Why did the Etruscans write their family members’ gravestone inscriptions in Latin, even though the burial rites were still entirely Etruscan around 100 B.C.? Since returning to Etruscology in my retirement, I have concentrated my research on South Etrurian towns and 'cippus' gravestones, 950 of which I have been able to track down thus far.

Read more

My best memories from the University

When I went into business life I kept in contact with the University mostly through delivering docent lectures. In the spring term of 1989, in my capacity as docent, I gave a lecture series for the Arts Faculty entitled ‘Humanistit liikkeenjohtajiksi’ (‘Arts graduates to business managers’).Based on experience, I had come to the conclusion that the day-to-day work of a company boss required the skills of someone with an arts background even more than a facility with accountancy.

Read more

"The first Night of the Arts was calm"

The Night of the Arts was organised for the first time in Helsinki in August 1989. People had the chance to witness various kinds of arts and cultural events– on the streets, in bookshops, in museums, in galleries– and at night. The Night of the Arts was organised by the Akateeminen bookshop and the Helsinki Festival. Yle News interviewed Jorma Kaimio, CEO of the bookshop. The interview with Kaimio and some of the Night of the Arts atmosphere from 1989 are available in the Yle Elävä Arkisto (video is in Finnish).

Read more