The (Re)Naming of the Finnish Representative Assembly 1809–1919: State-Building, Representation and Sovereignty

This article examines the names and naming of Finnish parliamentary institutions in relation to European debates, focusing on the period from the Diet of Porvoo in 1809 to the Constitution Act of 1919. The article presents a history of the adoption of the current names of the Finnish parliament – valtiopäivät and eduskunta in Finnish, riksdagen in Swedish, as well as a number of failed proposals. It analyzes how and why the names of the Finnish representative assembly were created and established. The article examines naming as a political act. The name formation was influenced by Finland’s position as a grand duchy of the Russian Empire and the constitutional and language tradition of its former mother country Sweden. However, naming of the assemblies took place in relation to wider European debates and developments. Political actors used translation and naming innovatively to (re)define, (re)describe and (re)conceptualize Finland’s status and national representation. The aim was to raise Finland and its nascent representation among European constitutional states and their parliamentary institutions. The article shows, for example, that valtiopäivät, applied since 1847 to the estate meeting in Porvoo in 1809, preceded the adoption of valtio as the Finnish word for the state, forming a crucial step in defining the Grand Duchy of Finland as a state.