Michael Agricola was the first developer of the Finnish written language. He adopted the Reformation of Martin Luther, and became a reformer of Finland. Michael Agricola was born in 1510 to a rather wealthy peasant family. When still a child, he was very eager to learn and was especially talented. His first teacher, a parson of Pernaja, noticed his gifts and persuaded his parents to send him, as a young boy, to Latin school in Vyborg. There he took Agricola ("farmer") as his surname, according to his fathers occupation.

After 8 years of studying, the 18 year old Agricola was close to the immediate circle of the bishop of Finland. In the beginning of 1530's he was ordained a priest, at the same time as the reforms of the Reformation were carried out. Agricola was sent to the university of Wittenberg in Germany in 1536, where Martin Luther was living and acting. In 1539 Agricola passed his "Master of Arts" examination, and was chosen as a rector of a Cathedral school in Turku.

In 1543 Agricola finished off the first Finnish "ABC-book", after which in 1548 he translated the New Testament to Finnish. Agricola was nominated as the bishop of Turku, after King Gustav Wasa divided Finland's church into two dioceses; Turku's and Vyborg's.

Agricola died in 1557 after having had a severe fit on his way from Moscow, where he had been sent to settle a dispute with the Russians about borderlines.

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