Estonian ambassador visited Kuopio – Kalevipoeg memorial plaque got a new location at the Main Library

Estonian Ambassador in Finland Janne Jõesaar-Ruusalu visited Kuopio on Wednesday, November 12, 2025. The highlight of the visit was the announcement of the new location for the famous Kalevipoeg memorial plaque at the Kuopio Main Library. During the event, the ambassador also met with city leaders and representatives of the Estonian literature reading circle, among others.

Kalevipoeg is the Estonian national epic, written by Friedrich Robert Faehlmann and Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald based on Estonian folk poetry. The first popular edition of the epic was printed in Kuopio in 1862 at Johan Karsten’s printing house. The first edition is still on display at the Kuopio Main Library.

“I dare say that almost every elementary school student in Estonia knows where and when the first popular edition of the epic was published,” said Ambassador Jõesaar-Ruusalu at the event.

The Kalevipoeg memorial plaque was created by sculptor Paavo Halonen in 1983 to mark the 120th anniversary of the epic. The plaque was originally attached to the wall of the former printing house – the place where the epic was first published. Now that the building is scheduled for demolition, it was decided to move the memorial plaque to the corridor connecting the main library and the museum.

“It reminds us that Finland and Estonia have a lot in common – after all, our languages, Estonian and Finnish, are closely related. Kuopio also has an important place in Estonian cultural history,” emphasizes library director Päivi Savinainen.