Background
Born in Tölvänniemi (now a part of Lapinlahti) as the oldest son of plain farmers, he received his first bible at age six.
Born in Tölvänniemi (now a part of Lapinlahti) as the oldest son of plain farmers, he received his first bible at age six.
Paavo Ruotsalainen became the leader of the revivalist movement called herännäisyys (Awakening) in Finland. lieutenant is estimated that he traveled 40,000 km altogether, most of it on foot. With the spreading of the movement, both church and state authorities became worried about lieutenant
In 1838/39 he was put on trial and fined, yet this could not stop the movement.
Ruotsalainen died in Nilsiä. In 1975 Ruotsalainen became the subject of The Last Temptations, an opera by Joonas Kokkonen.
The libretto of the opera was written by Lauri Kokkonen who had earlier written a play with the same title.
He traveled around Finland to meet with other members of the movement, most notably the priests Jonas Lagus and Nils Gustav Malmberg in Ostrobothnia.