A physician and folklorist, Elias Lonnrot was born in 1802 and died in 1884. In the 1820s, he began to collect and study materials related to Finland’s oral tradition, folklore, and its ancient linguistic practices. In 1831, the Finnish Literature Society was founded and Lonnrot became the Society’s first secretary. His work led him to publish a number of works related to his collecting efforts, including the Kalevala and the Kanteletar.