Oskar Merikanto

Frans Oskar Merikanto was born in Helsinki on August 5, 1868. Educated at the Leipzig Conservatory under Carl Reinecke and in Berlin, Merikanto served as principal organist at Saint John's Church (Johanneksenkirkko) in Helsinki for thirty-two years.

In 1898, he composed Pohjan neiti (The Maiden of the North), the very first opera written to a Finnish-language libretto. He was the founding principal conductor of the Finnish Opera in 1911; his lyrical piano waltzes and deeply moving folk songs remain the most widely sung melodies in Finnish culture.