Finnish Oriental Society
The Finnish Oriental Society (Suomen Itämainen Seura in Finnish, Finska Orientsällskapet in Swedish) was founded in December 1917 in order to advance research regarding the cultures of the Orient and to promote knowledge of them in Finland. Originally the Society was more interested in the Near East, but the scope widened fast and the Society’s interests now include also Asia, Africa and Oceania. The Society is the most important community in Finland for those interested in non-European cultures.
The most important function of the Society is to publish high-quality research. The most important publication series of the Society are Studia Orientalia and Studia Orientalia Electronica, which are both international and peer-reviewed. The society also publishes the series Suomen Itämaisen Seuran suomenkielisiä julkaisuja, whose purpose is to make available in Finnish some of the research results relating to the Orient. In the Finnish series, the Society also publishes study-guides and literature. Furthermore, the Society also publishes Svenskspråkiga skrifter utgivna av Finska orientsällskapet in Swedish with principally the same aims as its Finnish counterpart. In addition to publishing, the Society also organises interesting lectures in Finnish which are open to the general public.
For more information, please contact Repekka Uotila, the secretary of the Society, sihteeri@suomenitamainenseura.org.