Royal Academy of Åbo

Seal of the Royal Academy of Åbo
Latin:Regia Academia Aboensis
Other name	Royal Academy of Turku
Active	1640–1828
Location	Turku , Southwest Finland
Re-established as	University of Helsinki

TheRoyal Academy of Turku or theRoyal Academy of Åbo^[a] was the first university inFinland, and the only Finnish university that was founded when the country stillwas a part of Sweden. It was founded in 1640. In 1809, after Finland becamea grand duchy within theRussian Empire, it was renamed theImperial Academy of Turku. In 1828, after theGreat Fire of Turku, the institution was moved toHelsinki, in line with the relocation of the capital of the grand duchy. It was finally renamed theUniversity of Helsinki when Finlanddeclared independence in 1917.

The academy was founded on 26 March 1640 by QueenChristina of Sweden at the proposal of CountPer Brahe,^[1][2] on base ofÅbo Cathedral School (founded 1276). It was the third university in theSwedish Empire, followingUppsala University (founded 1477) and theAcademia Gustaviana (now theUniversity of Tartu inEstonia) (1632).

The firstprinting shop in Finland was established at the academy in 1642. The printer was Peder Walde.

Turku (or Åbo in Swedish) was the largest city in Finland and among the three largest in Sweden, while under Swedish sovereignty. In 1809, Finland was ceded toRussia and the capital of the newGrand Duchy of Finland was relocated to Helsinki in 1812, as Turku was regarded as being too remote fromSaint Petersburg — and too near toStockholm. As a result of theGreat Fire of Turku of 1827, which devastated most of the city and also badly damaged the university, the government offices that had remained were finally moved to the new capital, and so also was the university. It continued in Helsinki, first as theImperial Alexander University in Finland, and, following Finland's independence in 1917, as theUniversity of Helsinki.

There are two universities in Turku today: theSwedish-speakingÅbo Akademi University (founded in 1918) and theFinnish-speakingUniversity of Turku (1920), which both sometimes may claim an academic tradition at the location since the 17th century, in spite of a break for almost a century.

• 
  Inauguration of the Turku Academy Part 1 (Albert Edelfelt, 1902, painting in the ballroom of the University of Helsinki)
• 
  Inauguration of the Turku Academy Part 2
• 
  Inauguration of the Turku Academy Part 3

• List of early modern universities in Europe
• List of universities in Finland (present-day universities)

• Välimaa J. (2019) "The Founding of the Royal Academy of Turku." inA History of Finnish Higher Education from the Middle Ages to the 21st Century. Springer.
• Välimaa J. (2019) "The Academy of Turku During the Last Century of Swedish Rule (1720–1809)." inA History of Finnish Higher Education from the Middle Ages to the 21st Century. Springer.

• The University of Helsinki official history (in English) – retrieved 9 March 2014.
• Pirkko Forsman Svensson: From monolingual to bi- and multilingual instruction at the University of Helsinki
• Scholars and Literati at the University of Åbo (Turku) (1640–1800), in Repertorium Eruditorum Totius Europae/RETE.

60°27′06″N22°16′48″E / 60.4516°N 22.2799°E /60.4516; 22.2799

• 17th-century establishments in Finland
• University of Helsinki
• 19th century in Helsinki
• 1640 establishments in Sweden
• Deposit libraries
• 19th century in Turku

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