Turun Wiikko-Sanomat

Turun Wiikko-Sanomat was published in 1820–1827 and 1829–1831. Reinhold von Becker, a Finnish-language scholar and inventor of many new Finnish words, founded the newspaper in 1820 as a model for good language.

The well-edited newspaper was a roaring success initially, but after supporting the Greek War of Independence, and thus deviating from the Russian Empire’s official foreign policy (Finland was the Grand Duchy of Russia at the time), it was banned to publish any foreign news. This gradually led to a decline in the newspaper’s quality. Von Becker eventually sold Turun Wiikko-Sanomat in early 1824 to the printing-house owner C. L. Hjelt. After the change of ownership, the newspaper became a largely religious digest and its circulation decreased.

The Great Fire of Turku in 1827 interrupted the publication of the newspaper and not until 1829 did it begin to run again. In its final issues, Turun Wiikko-Sanomat was almost popular fiction, due to publishing long serialised novels. However, it excelled in its last year of publication as a more thorough news release for the raging cholera epidemic of that time, than other newspapers.