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Finnish composer Jean Sibelius was born in H"meenlinna, Finland on December 8th, 1865. His father was a prominent physician, and his mother came from a family of clerics. Finland, like most of the Scandinavian countries at that time, was dominated by Swedish culture, and like most middle and upper class Finns of this era, the family spoke only Swedish. Sibelius did not learn to speak the language of his native country until he was enrolled in a local school at age eight. Although he was recognized as musically gifted from an early age, he was given a classical education, and studied law at Helsingfors University.

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