Freemasonry and its social position in Finland

Freemasonry, with its roots in the seventeenth century, has had to suffer insults and some­times even attacks from society. In this article the author looks more closely at Free­masonry in Finland, where it first appeared in the mid-eighteenth century, in the light of the suspicion and negative treatment it had to suffer. The deprecatory attitude of individuals and various social organisations towards Freemasonry varied over time, but there was often an underlying suspicion among the general public. This was expressed in the form of legends and folk tales of a more or less dramatic nature