Otto Donner
Humanist of the day

Otto Donner

Otto Donner was Finland’s first professor of Sanskrit and comparative linguistics. His special area of expertise was the organisation of fieldwork. He was an encouraging teacher for many young linguists, many of them becoming internationally recognised scholars in their own right. Donner was also a representative in the Diet and an education minister.

Otto Donner

Born December 15, 1835, Kokkola. Died September 17, 1909, Helsinki.

Bachelor of Arts, 1861, Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy, 1864, Imperial Alexander University

Docent, Sanskrit and Comparative Linguistics, 1870–75, and 1875–1905, Imperial Alexander University
Member of the Senate, Head of the Ecclesiastical Affairs Committee, 1905–08
Representative of the Clergy at the Diet, member of various select committees, 1877–1905
Official, Bank of Finland, 1885–1905 and President, 1900–05
President, Viipuri student ‘nation’, 1874–76 and Inspector, 1882–92

Founder Member, Finno-Ugrian Society
Founder Member, Secretary, 1871-73, and Vice-President, 1878-80, Finnish Antiquarian Society
Member of various Finnish and international learned societies

Photo: WikimediaCommons
Written by Riitta-Ilona Hurmerinta
Translated by John Calton

Linguist Steeped in Fieldwork

Son of a shipowner and businessman from Karleby-Kokkola on the north-west coast of Finland, Otto Donner studied the Finnish language and modern literature at the Imperial Alexander University. He also studied Sanskrit independently. Donner was fascinated by M.A. Castrén’s initiative to research Finno-Ugrian languages on a comparative basis.

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Pohjoisranta 12 - a Home with a Sea View

Besides his academic career, Otto Donner had an influence on Finnish society through his leadership of the ecclesiastical affairs committee ( a position whose function broadly equates to that of the minister of education today) and as a senator in Finland’s very first political government, Leo Mechelin’s senate from 1905 to 1908. In addition to science and politics, Donner was said to be interested in music, art and nature.

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