I recommend these web sites for you:
In English:
History of Finland
http://virtual.finland.fi/finfo/english/hist.html
This site is part of Virtual Finland, which is produced by Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland.
A Web History of Finland
by Pasi Kuoppamäki
http://ky.hkkk.fi/~k21206/finhist.html
In Finnish:
Suomi 80 : Itsenäistymisen vuodet 1917-1918
http://www.uta.fi/suomi80/
This site is maintained by Department of History at University of Tampere
Suomen historian kronologia
http://www.utu.fi/agricola/hist/kronologia/index.html
Vuoden 1918 sota
http://www.utu.fi/agricola/hist/aihe/sota/1918.html
These two sites above are part of the Project Agricola, which is
produced by Finnish universities, archives, societies, museums and...
In this case I would recommend You to ask about the standard at Helsinki University Library, Main Library, entrance Unioninkatu 26, Telephone Service 358-9-191 23196, Information Retrieval, tel. 09-191 22740, e-mail HYK-tietopalvelu@helsinki.fi , opening hours Mon - Fri 9 - 20, Sat 9 - 16. You can also get information on this task of Finnish Standards Association SFS, http://www.sfs.fi/english.html , Information Service, e-mail: info@sfs.fi
The oldest form of the name Helsinki is Heelsingha. It's thought that it means the oldest population living on riverside of Vantaa River. They were swedish-speaking and were coming from Hälsningland.
Later Helsinki was the name of Helsinki parish, foregoer of Vantaa city.
Vaestorekisterikeskus (Population Registry Centre) can possibly help you in locating your friend. The address is: Kellosilta
4 00520 Helsinki PL 7, 00520 Helsinki Web-address: http://www.vaestorekisterikeskus.fi
You may try to find her email-address on web-pages of Sibelius Academy: http://www.siba.fi/
