Welcome to the website of the Liikanen Family Society!

The Liikanen Family Society was founded at the Rantala farm near Mikkeli in July 1985, with 97 founding members present. The purpose of the society is to research into the history of the different branches of the Liikanen family, to cherish family traditions and to promote togetherness among the members. One example of the activities supporting the purpose is family meeting s. The meetings are held every summer in varying places, and they can be attended by members and non-members alike. The meeting of 2010 was a special celebration of the 25^th anniversary, and it was held in Reisjärvi in Northern Ostrobothnia.

There are currently 12 recognised Liikanen branches which do not have a common progenitor. The branches are named based on the place where the progenitor was born or lived: Kangasniemi, Mikkeli, Mikkeli Asila, Kuusamo, Korpilahti, Johannes, Pudasjärvi, Ii, Oulu, Längelmäki, Muhos. Research is being carried out in order to find connections between the branches.

Descendants of several Liikanen branches are known to have settled outside of Finland. Liikanen is a surname found today at least in Australia, Canada and the U.S. Furthermore, there is a fairly large number of people with the surname Lukanen in the U.S., notably in the Minnesota area. They are descendants of the Liikanen branch coming from Kuusamo in northeastern Finland.

The society has a coat of arms, designed by architect Tommi Lindh of the Ristiina branch. The coat of arms, depicting a black shield with a golden concave chief and six golden flames 3+2+1, was registered at the Heraldic Society of Finland in 1995.

If you are interested in finding out more about us, please feel free to contact

Harri Liikanen, chairman of the society (Kangasniemi branch), harri dot liikanen at welho dot com

or Maarit Tillman, secretary of the society (Korpilahti branch), maarit dot tillman at gmail dot com