A. I. Arwidsson

Adolf Ivar Arwidsson
Adolf Ivar Arwidsson in a Lithograph by Johan Elias Cardon.
Born	(1791-08-07)7 August 1791 Padasjoki, Finland
Died	21 June 1858(1858-06-21) (aged 66) Viipuri, Finland
Occupation	political journalist, writer, historian

Adolf Ivar Arwidsson (7 August 1791 – 21 June 1858) was a Finnish political journalist, writer and historian. His writing was critical of Finland's status at the time as a Grand Duchy under the Russian Tsars. It's sharpness cost him his job as a lecturer at The Royal Academy of Turku and he had to emigrate to Sweden, where he continued his political activity. The Finnish national movement considered Arwidsson the mastermind of an independent Finland.

Adolf Ivar Arwidsson was born in 1791 in Padasjoki in southern Finland. His father, a chaplain, later moved the family to Laukaa in mid-Finland. Laukaa was severely affected by the Finnish war of 1808-1809, and Arwidsson was left facing life under the Russian Empire, to which Finland now an belonged as an autonomous Grand Duchy. In 1809, while still at high school in Porvoo, Arwidsson was a representative at the Diet of Porvoo, at which the Finnish estates swore oaths of allegiance to the Tsars. Enabling support from the Swedish speaking upper strata of the Finnish society for a separate Finnish identity was expressed by the University docent A. I. Arwidsson (1791–1858) in a phrase that, somewhat modified, became an often quoted Fennoman credo: "Swedes we are not / no-longer, Russians we do not want to become, let us therefore be Finns." (Swedish form: "Svenskar äro vi inte längre, ryssar vilja vi inte bli, låt oss alltså bli finnar." Finnish form: "Ruotsalaisia emme ole, venäläisiksi emme tahdo tulla, olkaamme siis suomalaisia.") In 1814 the Royal Academy of Turku awarded him his Magister degree in philosophy. In 1817 the same institution awarded him his doctorate, and he became a lecturer at the academy. Arwidsson's native language was Swedish; all his works are in Swedish, though he was a fluent speaker of Finnish.