Kuopio - J.V. Snellman

One of the outstanding Finnish figures of the 19th century, the philosopher, politician and statesman Johan Vilhelm Snellman, was rector of the grammar school in Kuopio from 1843 to 1849. Later, in 1863, he persuaded Tsar Alexander II to agree that Finnish should be one of the official languages, together with Swedish and Russian (in practice little used), of the Grand Duchy of Finland.