Havumäki
Encyclopedia
Havumäki was a village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

 within the municipality of Leivonmäki
Leivonmäki
Leivonmäki is a former municipality of Finland. It became a part of Joutsa in 2008. It is known for its marshy grounds and its national park. First inhabitants are mentioned in 1564. It has been a municipality since 1870....

, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

, itself a small town of only 1162 people (2003), until Leivonmäki was incorporated into Joutsa
Joutsa
Joutsa is a municipality of Finland.It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Central Finland region. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of ofwhich is water...

 in 2008. Located in the Central Finland
Central Finland
Central Finland is a region in Finland. It borders to the regions Päijänne Tavastia, Pirkanmaa, Southern Ostrobothnia, Central Ostrobothnia, Northern Ostrobothnia, Northern Savonia and Southern Savonia....

 region, approximately 235 kilometres (146 mi) from Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...

, Havumäki enjoys the moderate climate of the central region, in spite of its northern situation at latitude 61.9833 North.

Havumäki as a surname

Perhaps owing to the pastoral environs of this former village, a small family of Swedish immigrants bearing the impolitic Swedish-sounding last name Anderson
Anderson
-People:* Anderson Cooper, American television personality, son of Gloria Vanderbilt* Anderson Luís de Abreu Oliveira, Manchester United football player-Places:In Canada:* Anderson, British Columbia* Anderson Bay, British Columbia...

 changed their name to Havumäki in the period immediately following the Finnish Civil War
Finnish Civil War
The Finnish Civil War was a part of the national, political and social turmoil caused by World War I in Europe. The Civil War concerned control and leadership of The Grand Duchy of Finland as it achieved independence from Russia after the October Revolution in Petrograd...

. Residing in the town of Kotka
Kotka
Kotka is a town and municipality of Finland. Its former name is Rochensalm.Kotka is located on the coast of the Gulf of Finland at the mouth of Kymi River and it is part of the Kymenlaakso region in southern Finland. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water....

, closer to the Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n Border than to Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

, this clan likely contrived their family name because it meant "evergreen hill" (or spruce hill), and not because of any personal connection to the small hamlet. Nonetheless, several prominent individuals have borne this name, including renowned psychology professor Sulo Havumäki, who, while working at Bemidji State College in Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

, popularized the legend of St. Urho, to honor the patron saint of Finland, who drove the infamous grape-crop destroying grasshoppers out of Finland.

Further reading

  • Map and Climate of Havumäki, Finland: http://www.fallingrain.com/world/FI/15/Havumaki.html
  • History of St. Urho The Lengendary Patron Saint of Finland: http://www.sainturho.com/havumaki.htm
  • How to Pronounce Finnish Names: http://www.sci.fi/~kajun/finns/
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK