Päiviö Tommila, who enrolled at the University of Helsinki to study history in the early 1950s, has not regretted his choice of subject. His studies led to a long academic career with professorships and major research projects, and culminated in his becoming rector. The professor emeritus shares his ideas on the nature of his research.

“Historical research changes with new discoveries and the perspectives that are chosen. As a field of research, history is comforting in the sense that it is always growing. History is always being made, and there is no shortage of possible research.”

A career as a researcher has its end, but this also creates opportunities for younger scholars. Research has taken a backseat in the life of the professor emeritus, but his extensive output will keep future generations of historians busy. Tommila does not regret the research left undone, and instead feels optimistic about the future of field. The professor looks back on his own career and its effect on Finnish historical research.

“A researcher is not a researcher unless he has goals, even somewhat unrealistic ones. You think about all that you should have studied. Ultimately all this is just a bunch of what ifs, and you should not waste too much energy on that. Rather, you should be glad that it was possible to last this long and write so many books. At the same time you hope that all the teaching you have done over the decades was beneficial and that it has advanced research and given a clearer picture of the past.”

An example of this is the ten part historical work Suomen lehdistön historia (‘The History of the Finnish Press’), which concludes at the turn of the 1990s. Although communication and the press have undergone radical changes over the past few years, the press still keeps on going. Future research is the responsibility of younger scholars, but the project led by Tommila offers a strong foundation for their efforts.