This is the website of the Sovio-Sovelius Family Association
Advance announcement about the 2022 Family Meeting in Raahe, click here
The Sovio-Sovelius Family Assosiation (Reg.) was founded and registered 06.06.2001. Its mission is to enhance the feeling of kinship among relatives, enable and encourage contacts between members of the family, document the phases and history of the family, and preserve the traditions of the family. These objectives we seek to fulfill by, among other activities, organizing family gatherings, collecting and archiving information about the family, and conducting publishing activities that enhance the mission of the family association.
The family association activities are managed by a board of directors, who are elected for a period of three years by the members in a family association meeting. The board directs the Family Grave Maintenance Committee, the Publication Committee and the Internet Committee.
The Sovio-Sovelius Family
The progenitor of the Sovio-Sovelius family is considered to be Lars Sohwo (Sofvo), who probably arrived in the Saloinen county sometimes in the 16th century. Lars’ son Matts Sohwo was the first Sovio settling down in Raahe. According to tradition Matts became known as Matts Jotaila.
The Sovio-Sovelius family has been active in Raahe since the foundation of the city; actually it was established partly on lands belonging to the Sovio house in 1649. The family was active in trading for almost 300 years. The family name became firm as Sovelius in the 18th century, but some members of the family reverted to the original name Sovio in 1899. The trading houses of the Sovio-Sovelius family were among the most significant Finnish companies of the 19th century. They specialised in tar trade and in shipping.
The Family Database
Eero Sovelius-Sovio in his time, with the help of partners, relatives, friends and archives, carried out the formidable task of creating the Sovio-Sovelius family list of members, which was published in print in 1999, and a revised version published in 2009. Starting in 2009 the data in the List of Members was digitalized, and the latest name check was performed in January 2015. The family database, ever since then, has been accessible by the members of the family association as well as by genealogists through the website of the family association. Data is being updated as new or missing information is recieved.
As of now the Sovio-Sovelius Family database contains 3710 names (of living and deceased). Today there are 9 living branches in our genealogical table. See the family branches and the number of persons in each in the branches in the chart below.
The publishing activities
The family association publishes an annual family bulletin; Jotailan Jutut, issued early in the year in Finnish, Swedish and English; a printed copy delivered to members of the association, who have paid their membership fee. The bulletin contains articles concerning the family’s history, family association activities, as well as family members and their lives.
The latest issue of the “Jotaila jutut” family bulletin, No. 26, was published in February 2021. If you want to give comments about the bulletin, klick here
Click on the front page below to access the bulletin.
Here you can find all Jotailan Jutut bulletins
Ordinary family association meetings and family gatherings
The family association arranges family gatherings intended for all members every third year, either in Raahe or in the Helsinki region. In conjunction with these also the ordinary association meeting is held. Smaller local gatherings, e.g. for members living in the capital region, are arranged annually.
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Family chart
As mentioned above, Matts Sohwo was defined as the progenitor of the Sovio-Sovelius family. During the 17th century only Father > Son (who inherited the land) was entered into official records, hence we can only reconstruct the main bloodline of the family. This was the case during the 9 generations from the first ancestor until Matts Johan Sovelius (1726 – 1795), the first relative with more comprehensive information, in the chart below.
Based on the more detailed records starting in the early 18th century, we have been able to map the various branches of the family (SG 1-9), as defined in the overview of the family below. The chart includes only the bloodline, spouses have been omitted. Persons typed with embolded letters had decendants, normal text indicate they did not. The chart also includes information on the number of current members of the family branch.
