BACKGROUND: 100th anniversary of a Finnish settlement
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By Johanna Pohjola in Oberá
"Finland, your ice fields are the flame of my heart, my love is as great as the distance between us. You belong to me, although I will never get to see you. In my mother's eyes I saw your sky. As gifts my father left the wisdom of the Kalevala, and Finnish sisu. Today I am an American. Yesterday I was your child."
These are the opening lines of the Finland Tango, composed by 79-year-old Arne Ricardo Vuori.
The words of the tango were given a permanent place in the Plazoleta de Finlandia, a public square of the city of Oberá, in connection with the 100th anniversary celebrations of Finnish immigration on April 1st this year. Vuori, who moved to Argentina with his parents at the age of six months, was awarded for his work as a musician, and for promoting the Finnish identity, with a medal - the Cross of Merit of the Order of the Lion of Finland.
The centenary of Finnish immigration is being celebrated throughout the year in Argentina. The Finland week celebrated in Oberá at the turn of the month included exhibitions, theatre, sightseeing tours to the birthplace of the Colonia, and a 30-kilometre walk along the Picada Finlandesa road.
In July, the 100th anniversary of the arrival of the first immigrants will be celebrated, and in the autumn, Finland will have the title role in the annual Misiones immigration festival. In addition, a seminar on research cooperation between the two countries is to be held in the southern city of Ushuaia. Finland has a long history of scientific and technological research in Tierra del Fuego.
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 18.4.2006
More on this subject:
 Finnish settlement in Argentina founded by Finns fleeing Tsarist tyranny
Helsingin Sanomat
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