Memorial to Finnish linguist, Estophile Lauri Kettunen unveiled at Kassitoome

On 27 June, a monument to Professor Lauri Kettunen was unveiled at Kassitoome, between Baer street and the valley. Kettunen participated in establishing the Estonian-language university and, in particular, the chair of Finno‑Ugric languages, serving as its first professor from 1920 to 1924.

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In autumn 2025, the 140th anniversary of the birth of Professor Lauri Kettunen, who played a major role in the history of the Estonian-language University of Tartu, was celebrated. To mark the anniversary, the Mother Tongue Society commissioned a memorial depicting Kettunen riding a kicksled, which he is credited with introducing in Estonia. The sledge carries packages of books written by Kettunen, the topmost being the Estonian-language poetry collection “Südame sillad” (Bridges of the Heart). The figure is adorned with words and sentences in Finnic languages. The author of the monument is sculptor Elo Liiv, and the bronze casting was carried out by Uus Monumentaal OÜ. Also, the park area around the memorial was restored.

Kettunen, who lived and worked in Tartu, made a significant contribution to the development of standard Estonian. He was a co-founder of the Academic Mother Tongue Society and, as its first chair, influenced the emergence of professional language planning, the development of linguistic research, and the Estonianisation of family names. He stood up for the recognition of Estonian as the official language of a young state and promoted the Finno-Ugric kinship movement. Later, back in Finland, Kettunen spread pro-Estonian ideas and supported Estonians, including the Finnish Boys, i.e. the Estonian volunteers fighting in the Finnish Infantry Regiment 200 during World War II.

Speeches at the unveiling ceremony were delivered by Mayor Urmas Klaas, Rector of the University of Tartu Toomas Asser, Finnish Ambassador Vesa Vasara, Chair of the Mother Tongue Society Helle Metslang, sculptor Elo Liiv, and the originator of the idea and head of the memorial committee, Jüri Valge. The Vanemuine opera soloist Kristjan Häggblom sang, and Jaana Toome, co-research secretary of the Mother Tongue Society, read poetry by Lauri Kettunen.

The memorial was created with the support of 413 individual donors and 40 institutions and organisations from Estonia and Finland. The project was initiated by the Mother Tongue Society, with major support from the city of Tartu and the University of Tartu.