Eino Friberg

Eino Hjalmar Friberg (10 May 1901 – 27 May 1995) was a Finnish-born American writer. He is best known for his 1989 translation of the Finnish national epic The Kalevala.

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Eino Hjalmar Friberg was born in Merikarvia, Grand Duchy of Finland, in 1901 and moved to the United States when he was still a child, in 1906.^[1][2] At the age of seven, his eyes were damaged by a fragment of glass from a bottle of soda pop that he opened by striking it against a curb, which led to his eventual blindness at the age of 10.^[1] He attended the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, Massachusetts and then attended Boston University, where he received his B.A.^[2] He enrolled in a Ph.D. program in philosophy at Harvard University, but never completed his thesis. He eventually received a Master of Arts in philosophy from Harvard in the mid-1970s, after passing a French language examination.^{[clarification needed]}

Friberg published a book of poetry, Sparks, in 1926.^[3] During World War II, he worked in a tool and die plant in Worcester, Massachusetts and became a labor organizer for the United Steelworkers of America.

At the age of 75, he began to translate into the English language the Finnish national epic The Kalevala, working from a Braille copy. This was the first time The Kalevala had been translated by a native Finnish speaker into English, and was the fourth full translation overall.^[4]

In addition to his literary work, Friberg was deeply involved in religion. He attended the Swedenborgian School of Theology and was ordained as a minister in the Swedenborgian, Congregational and Unitarian Churches, serving as a minister in Congregational and Unitarian churches in New England. In 1949, on the porch of his house in Westminster, Massachusetts, Friberg had a "mystical encounter," about which he wrote an unpublished manuscript. Theologian Reinhold Neibuhr commented on the manuscript that "I know of no record of spiritual pilgrimage more authentic."^{[citation needed]}

• The Finnish American Translators Association awarded Friberg an honorary membership for his translation of The Kalevala.^[5]
• In 1988, Friberg returned to Finland for the first time since his emigration to receive the Order of the White Rose of Finland.^[2][6]
• In 1989, Friberg was honored with an Arts & Letters Award and Certificate of Merit by the Finlandia Foundation, New York Metropolitan Chapter for his translation of The Kalevala.^[7]

Friberg was married three times^{[citation needed]} and had two daughters.^[1] He died in Cambridge, Massachusetts, aged 94.^[1]

• The Kalevala: Epic of the Finnish People (1989). ISBN 951-1-10137-4

• The Kalevala: Epic of the Finnish People – Inside front page.
• "Epic Task Ties Poet to Finnish Roots," Boston Globe, May 7, 1988, Metro Section, page 2 (link requires subscription or fee)^{[permanent dead link]}

• Finlandia Foundation New York Metropolitan Chapter