Knut Tallqvist, the youngest son of a parson from an old clerical family, entered the Imperial Alexander University in 1883 to study Oriental languages. Much of his studying was done independently, as his professor, Ernst August Strandman, was often absent due to illness. When Tallqvist completed his bachelor’s degree in 1887, he travelled to Germany to study.

While studying in Leipzig and Berlin between 1889 and 1890, he grew increasingly fascinated by Assyriology, which became his primary field of research. His doctoral dissertation, Die Sprache der Contracte Nabû-nâ’ids (555–538 v. Chr.) mit Berücksichtigung der Contracte Nebukadrezars und Cyrus (1890), was the first of its kind in Finland. Tallqvist was appointed docent in Assyriology and Semitic Languages in 1891.

Tallqvist’s academic output in the field of Assyriology was notable both in quantity and quality. For instance, his early edition and commentary of the Maqlû incantation (1892) has been an invaluable resource to later researchers of both the genre and Mesopotamian beliefs. His reference work on Assyrian names, which was published in 1914, was also a major undertaking, and a project to replace it was only launched in the mid-1990s.

Tallqvist was also the first significant Finnish populariser of Assyriology. One of the ways he did this was by releasing the latest research results through a series of introductory publications by the Finnish Oriental Society, which he had founded. Tallqvist also wrote about the life and travels of Georg August Wallin in the Arabian Peninsula, and published his letters and journals.

As a professor, Tallqvist was known as a stern scholar with zero tolerance for nonsense—in particular when it came to science. He was also a passionate gardener, a hobby he also practised in the French garden of Leipzig University when he was a student there.

Among Tallqvist’s final contributions, was the 1945 Swedish language translation of the Epic of Gilgamesh. He also began work on the first Finnish translation of the Quran. The project was completed by his students Armas Salonen and Jussi Aro in 1957.

In the 30 or more years that Knut Tallqvist served as a professor, he founded, in Helsinki, the only department of Assyriology in the Nordic region. He was a leading authority in his field, and was accordingly granted honorary membership of the prestigious British and American Oriental Societies.

Sources

• Hellen Tallqvist, Knut Tallqvist och hans fästmö. Deras brevväxling under hans resa i Orienten 1893–1895, Svenskspråkiga skrifter utgivna av Finska orientsällskapet n:o 7, Helsingfors 1986.
• Sanna Aro, Tallqvist, Knut, Kansallisbiografia-verkkojulkaisu ('Online publication by the National Biography’). Accessed July 29th, 2015.
• Tallqvist, Knut Leonard, Helsingin yliopiston opettaja- ja virkamiesmatrikkeli 1640–1917. Accessed July 29th, 2015. 
• Knut Tallqvist, Wikipedia. Accessed July 29th, 2015.