Editing University of Turku (section)

==History==

===Royal Academy of Turku===
{{Main|Royal Academy of Turku}}

The first university established in Turku was the [[Royal Academy of Turku]], founded on March 26, 1640, by Queen [[Christina of Sweden]] at the suggestion of Count [[Per Brahe the Younger|Per Brahe]]. It originated from the [[Turku Cathedral School]], which had been established in 1276. The Royal Academy was the third university in the [[Swedish Empire]] and the only one in Finland during the period of Swedish rule.

In 1809, after [[Russian Empire|Russia's]] victory over Sweden in the [[Finnish War]], Finland was annexed by Russia as the autonomous [[Grand Duchy of Finland]]. To reduce Swedish influence and move the capital closer to [[Saint Petersburg]], Finland's capital was relocated from Turku to [[Helsinki]] on April 8, 1812. Following the [[Great Fire of Turku]] in 1827, the Royal Academy was also transferred to Helsinki, where it eventually became the modern [[University of Helsinki]]. For the remainder of the 19th century, Turku did not have a university.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2020-02-27 |title=Turun yliopisto juhli sataa vuottaan valoin, lauluin ja soihtukulkuein – katso tallenne syntymäpäiviltä |url=https://yle.fi/a/3-11230005 |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=Yle Uutiset |language=fi}}</ref>

===University of Turku===
[[Image:Turun yliopiston avajaiset 1922.png|thumb|250px|The grand opening of the University of Turku in 1922. On the left is [[Artturi H. Virkkunen]], the first rector of the university]]
In 1918, university-level teaching returned to Turku with the founding of [[Åbo Akademi]], an exclusively Swedish-speaking institution. This prompted the Finnish intelligentsia to establish a university where [[Finnish language|Finnish]] would be the language of instruction—the first of its kind in Finland. As a result, the modern University of Turku was founded on [[Kalevala Day|''Kalevala'' Day]] (February 28) in 1920. A total of 22,040 people contributed to the fundraising campaign. Finland’s newly gained [[Finnish Declaration of Independence|independence]] and the success of the campaign are reflected in the university's motto: "The gift of a free people to free science."<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Kansanliike perustaa yliopiston 1917–1920 |url=https://www.utu.fi/fi/yliopisto/historia/kansanliike-perustaa-yliopiston |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=University of Turku |language=fi}}</ref>

The first premises of the University of Turku were in the centre of the city, by the market square. In the 1950s a new campus was built on {{Interlanguage link multi|Ryssänmäki|fi|3=Yliopistonmäki}} (''Russian Hill''<ref>{{cite book|last=Juslenius|first=Daniel|title=Aboa vetus et nova|year=1700|publisher=Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura|isbn=978-951-746-743-8|pages=185}}</ref> – now known as University Hill). In the 1960s the university started to expand rapidly, a process that still continues.

The university was made a public institution in 1974.<ref name=history>{{cite web|url=http://www.utu.fi/en/university/traditions/history/Pages/home.aspx|title=The History of the University of Turku|access-date=23 May 2018}}</ref>

Since 1995 the University of Turku has been a member of the [[Coimbra Group]]. In 2017, the university became a member of The European Campus of City-Universities (EC2U).<ref name="auto"/>

In January 2010, the [[Turku School of Economics]] merged with the University of Turku, forming a seventh faculty of the university.<ref name=history/> 

In 2021, the Faculty of Technology was established as the eighth faculty of the university.<ref>{{Cite web |title=100 Years of Top Research and Education |url=https://www.utu.fi/en/100/century-of-top-research-and-education |access-date=2022-11-14 |website=www.utu.fi |language=en}}</ref>