© Photo: HAM Helsinki Art Museum / Yehia Eweis M. A. Castrén Artist Alpo Sailo Matiaksenlehto, Mannerheimintien and Museokadun kulmaus, Etu-Töölö, Helsinki Matias Aleksanteri Castrén (1813-52) was a scholar of Finno-Ugric languages, explorer and from 1851, the first professor of the Finnish language at the University of Helsinki. In 1912, the Finno-Ugrian Society, the Finnish Literature Society, the Finnish Association for Antiquities and the Kotikielen seura (Home language association) organized a competition for a memorial to Castrén. The memorial was commissioned from Alpo Sailo. The memorial is a 0,8 metre-high bronze bust set on a 3-metre high pedestal of red granite. It was unveiled in 1921. The work doesn’t belong to the City of Helsinki’s art collection, which is managed by HAM. At map
