Johan Vilhelm Snellman (Stockholm 1806 – Kirkkonummi 1881) enrolled in the present-day University of Helsinki in 1822. Influenced by Johan Jakob Tengström (professor of philosophy, 1787–1858), he immersed himself in Hegelianism and became a member of the nascent nationalist group around the Tengström family circle. In 1835 he completed his studies with a dissertation on Hegel’s system. He also advocated the Bildungsuniversität, based on Wilhelm von Humboldt’s idea of combined higher education and self-development (Bildung). In the charged atmosphere following the Polish uprising of 1830-31, Snellman’s enthusiasm for academic freedom was interpreted by the authorities as dangerous agitation. In 1838 he was temporarily dismissed from his teaching post. His most important publication on academic study, Om det akademiska studium, was published in Sweden in 1840.
In Snellman’s philosophical career, the most creative phase was the period 1839-42, which he spent in voluntary exile mainly in Sweden and Germany, travelling to Tübingen to participate in the debate initiated by Hegel’s most famous disciple, David Friedrich Strauss. His main work in political philosophy, Läran om staten (“The study on the state”), was published in Stockholm in 1842; it departed from Hegel by emphasizing the importance of a unitary nation and national identity (rather than sovereign statehood). He also stressed the crucial role of a nation’s culture, which could only be captured by the national language (for him, Finnish in Finland), articulating the national spirit and cultivated by nationally conscious persons.
In Finland, Snellman’s reputation as a seditious agitator prevented him from obtaining a professorship. In 1843, he became headmaster of the upper elementary school in Kuopio in eastern Finland. There he launched two newspapers, Saima for the educated classes in Swedish and Maamiehen ystävä (“The countryman’s companion”) for the Finnish-speaking common people, both in 1844. Simultaneously, he applied his philosophical system to a practical political and social programme. In response, the Senate withdrew Saima’s publishing permit in 1846, which resulted in Snellman’s temporal withdrawal from public life.
Snellman’s reputation was rehabilitated during the Crimean War (1853-56), when he opposed Scandinavism and argued that Finland could develop its national character better as a grand duchy in the Russian Empire than as a part of Sweden. After Alexander II’s accession to the throne had brought a more liberal political climate, Snellman was appointed to a professorship (1856-63) and made a senator (1863-68). In the Senate, he significantly contributed to the 1863 language decree, which gave Finnish an equal official status with Swedish under a 20-year transition period, and to the 1865 monetary reform, which tied the Finnish markka to the silver standard instead of the Russian ruble. His linguistic nationalism, pro-Russian monarchist stance and strict financial policy attracted widespread criticism, however. In the aftermath of the famine of 1866-68, he was forced to leave the Senate because of the disagreements over emergency famine aid and taking out a foreign loan.
After departing from the Senate, Snellman supported himself as the chairman of the board of the Mortgage Society of Finland. From 1870 to 1874, he was also the chairman of the Finnish Literature Society. Moreover, he was active in the Diets of 1872 and 1877-78 and continued his journalistic activities, above all, with the Fennoman newspaper Morgonbladet (as of 1876). During his later years he mostly reiterated his earlier positions and his leverage was consequently reduced. He died of atherosclerosis in 1881.
While Snellman’s idealistic philosophical system was already outdated by the 1850s, his political legacy has been a subject to ideologically-charged debates until recently. The critical edition of his complete works (J.V. Snellman Samlade arbeten I-XII) was published by the Prime Minister’s Office in 1992-98.
