Jaakko Forsman

Who was Jaakko Forsman?

Jaakko Forsman was a Finnish jurist and politician, as well as a leading activist of the Fennoman movement.

In 1857, he attained his doctorate in law at the University of Helsinki with the first Finnish language dissertation ever submitted to the Faculty of Law there. In 1879, he was appointed professor of law and legal history.

His contributions to the 1889 Finnish Criminal Code and his lectures in criminal law, which came to be regarded as the code's authentic interpretation, earned him the title of "Father of Finnish Criminal Law". Forsman also wrote a seminal text on Finnish legal history, Suomen lainsäädännön historia, and served in the Diet of Finland from 1882 until his death.