GSAS Grad Dies; Prize Will Be Created In His Honor

Finnish poet Eino Hjalmar Friberg died Saturday in his Cambridge home at the age of 94.

The poet, who received a Master's Degree in 1976 from Harvard's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, will be remembered by the Harvard community through an annual prize in Finnish Literature established in his honor by the Germanic Languages and Literature Department.

Friberg received Finland's highest civilian award, the Order of the Rose, for his translation of the Finnish epic poem "Kalevala." The translation project took him 12 years to accomplish.

Friberg was born in Finland and came to the United States in 1906. He attended the Perkins Institute for the Blind and later received degrees from Boston University, Harvard University and the New Church Theological School (now named the Swedenborgian School of Religion).

A writer of poetry and plays, Friberg lived in Westminster, Mass. and Worcester, Mass. before settling in Cambridge 20 years ago.

A memorial service for Friberg will be held at the Swedenborg Chapel Saturday. He is survived by two daughters, two brothers and a sister.

This story contains material from The Associated Press.