Ivan Šajković worked on the Serbo-Croation translation of the Kalevala for 27 years. He learned to know the Finnish language and the essence of folk poetry and he concluded that it was impossible to translate the Kalevala. ”The only thing that the translator can do is to approach the immense beauty of the Kalevala, which in its perfection cannot be attained.” As a result of a dedicated and artistic work the first part of the Kalevala in Serbo-Croatian was published in 1935 and the second part in 1939.