Name Maria Lahteenmaki | ||
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Maria Lähteenmäki is a researcher of history, Jutikkala Professor at the University of Eastern Finland and Docent of Finnish and Scandinavian history at the University of Helsinki. She has produced many scientific monographs and textbooks and written a great amount of articles.
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Career
In her research Lähteenmäki has specialized into the transnational regions (Lapland, the North Calotte, the Barents Euro-Arctic Region, North of Europe), 19th and 20th century’s society history, history of women and social history of war. With her research Jänkäjääkäreitä ja parakkipiikoja. Lappilaisten sotakokemuksia 1939–45 (SKS 1999) Lähteenmäki earned the reward of the Väinö Tanner Foundation (2000), as well as the President Urho Kekkonen’s 70th Anniversary Fund’s prize from her research Kalotin kansaa. Rajankäynnit ja vuorovaikutus Pohjoiskalotilla 1808–1889 (SKS 2004). The research has been published in English under the title: The Peoples of Lapland. Boundary Demarcations and Interaction in the North Calotte from 1808 to 1889. It has been published in the Series of the Finnish Science Academy (2006).
Lähteenmäki’s latest monograph Maailmojen rajalla. Kannaksen rajamaa ja poliittiset murtumat 1911–1944 (SKS 2009) deals with Finland’s and Russia’s/Soviet Union’s vulnerable border area Terijoki in the Karelian Isthmus from historical perspective. Lähteenmäki has caused a lot of debates with her daring interpretations. For example when writing about the War of Lapland Lähteenmäki notes that Finnish military leaders agreed to surrender Lapland lightly to German warzone without giving a thought for fact that civilians were left to dangerous border areas (Helsingin Sanomat 29.3.1999, Suomen Kuvalehti 13.8.1999). From the basis of her Terijoki-research Lähteenmäki argues that memories of the lost Finnish Karelia are mainly based on childhood memories and have resulted in corrupted and one-sided picture from Karelia (Helsingin Sanomat 4.8.2009). Lähteenmäki has highlighted in different connections that Finland has been built from borders and that is why research of ordinary people living in border areas is important for national history research beside the research of elites and centers.
Lähteenmäki graduated as baccalaureate from Sodankylä upper secondary school (1977) and studied at the University of Helsinki, Finnish history as her primary subject. Her dissertation concerns the history of women (Mahdollisuuksien aika. Työläisnaiset ja yhteiskunnan muutos 1910–30-luvun Suomessa, SKS. E-book: hdl:10138/16250 ). Lähteenmäki archived docentship of Finnish and Scandinavian history in 1999. She worked as an assistant and lecturer of history in 1991-2001, and as professor in 2003 and 2007 at the University of Helsinki as well as Senior Researcher in the Finnish Academy in 2001-2009. Lähteenmäki has been a Professor of Finnish history and Jutikkala Professor at the University of Eastern Finland since the August 2009.