The University of Tartu celebrates the Day of Gustavus Adolphus and the anniversary of founding the university

On Monday, 7 November the Day of Gustavus Adolphus, the King of Sweden and the founder of the university of Tartu, and the 384^th anniversary of founding the Academia Gustaviana is celebrated. Everyone interested is welcome!

 

Relationships between the universities of Sweden and Estonia are still strong and important, and to emphasise it, the scientists of Estonia (UT) and Sweden (Lund University) deliver presentations at the seminar beginning at 13:00 in Physicum. The topic is neutron studies in Estonia and in Sweden.  

 

According to Marco Kirm, Vice Rector for Research of the University of Tartu, this year is special for several research facilities have been completed in northern Europe. “On 21 June, the longest day of this summer, the King of Sweden Karl XVI Gustav opened the currently best-in-the-world synchrotron radiation source MAX IV laboratory in Lund, to the development of which also Estonian scientists have contributed. Next to MAX IV, the European Research Infrastructure Consortium, whose 11 founding members also include Estonia, is establishing the world’s most powerful neutron source (ESS) by the year 2023,” said Kirm to explain why it is especially symbolic to present the results of the efficient collaboration of Estonian and Swedish scientists on the university’s anniversary this year, and plan visions for the future. 

 

„The fact that we can discuss issues that are not only limited to historical fields of research gives evidence of the continuously successful cooperation between the University of Tartu and Swedish institutions of higher education and research. This seminar aims to emphasise the need for and continuation of cooperation in this rapidly developing field of science, in which the researchers of both countries can introduce their recent results,” Kristina Mullamaa, Head of the Department of Scandinavian Studies of the University of Tartu described the current relationships between the universities.

 

At 15:30 the Ambassador of Sweden to Estonia T. E. Anders Ljunggren opens the exhibition “The Makings of Swedish Freedom of the Press” in the lobby of the College of Foreign Languages and Cultures. After that, flowers are placed at Johan Skytte monument and at the monument to Gustav II Adolf.

 

At 17.30 a free concert begins in the assembly hall of the university. A baroque music ensemble including Tuuri Dede (mezzo-soprano), Anna-Liisa Eller (Estonian zither), Villu Vihermäe (cello) and Kristiina Are (harpsichord) performs the programme “Venti, turbini…” (“Winds, whirls”). Works by J. S. Bach, G. F. Händel, G. F. Telemann etc. will be played.

 

The Day of Gustavus Adolphus and the anniversary of Academia Gustaviana have been celebrated in the University of Tartu for several years already, organised in the cooperation of the University of Tartu, the UT Department of Scandinavian Studies, the Embassy of the Kingdom of Sweden to Estonia and the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Office in Estonia. The event is celebrated to commemorate Gustav II Adolf, the King of Sweden and commander-in-chief, whom Estonians know primarily in connection with the founding of the university of Tartu in 1632.

 

Additional information:

Kady Sõstar, Public Relations Specialist of the University of Tartu, 511 9188, kady.sostar@ut.ee