Atos Kasimir Wirtanen (27 January 1906 in

Saltvik Saltvik is a municipality of Åland, an autonomous territory of Finland. The total area is 1 161,8 km2, of which 150,7 km2 is land, 4,7 km2 lakes and 1006,4 km2 sea. The archipelago north of Saltvik is perhaps the most beauti ...

– 10 March 1979) was a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

left-wing intellectual, journalist, member of

Finnish parliament The Parliament of Finland ( ; ) is the unicameral and supreme legislature of Finland, founded on 9 May 1906. In accordance with the Constitution of Finland, sovereignty belongs to the people, and that power is vested in the Parliament. The ...

(1936–1953) and cultural critic. He was born in

Åland Åland ( fi, Ahvenanmaa: ; ; ) is an Federacy, autonomous and Demilitarized zone, demilitarised region of Finland since 1920 by a decision of the League of Nations. It is the smallest region of Finland by area and population, with a size of 1 ...

. Wirtanen entered parliament on the

Social Democratic Party of Finland The Social Democratic Party of Finland (SDP, fi, Suomen sosialidemokraattinen puolue ; sv, Finlands socialdemokratiska parti), shortened to the Social Democrats ( fi, link=no, Sosiaalidemokraatit; sv, link=no, Socialdemokrater) and commonly kno ...

(SDP) list at the 1936 election. An opponent of fascism, in 1938 in response to the events of

Kristallnacht () or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (german: Novemberpogrome, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) paramilitary and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from ...

, he likened Nazism's antisemitism with the Finnish far-right's hatred of Swedish-speaking Finns. During the

Continuation War The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet-Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1944, as part of World War II.; sv, fortsättningskriget; german: Fortsetzungskrieg. A ...

, he was among the signatories of the "Petition of the Thirty-Three", members of the

peace opposition Peace opposition (, {{Lang-sv, fredsoppositionen) was a Finnish cross-party movement (from 1943 to 1944) uniting both bourgeois politicians like Paasikivi, Kekkonen, Sakari Tuomioja etc. and (mostly left-leaning) Social Democratic Party (Finland), ...

who sought peace with the Soviet Union, his actions forcing him to spend a period underground. Following the war, he joined to the

Finnish People's Democratic League Finnish People's Democratic League ( fi, Suomen Kansan Demokraattinen Liitto, SKDL; sv, Demokratiska Förbundet för Finlands Folk, DFFF) was a Finnish political organisation with the aim of uniting those left of the Finnish Social Democratic Pa ...

(SKDL) in 1946. Wirtanen was also active in the Socialist Unity Party (SYP) and served as its chairman from 1948 to 1955. In 1955 he led the SYP out of the SKDL. Wirtanen was fired twice (1941 and 1947) from the publication ''

Arbetarbladet ''Arbetarbladet'' ('The Workers' Newspaper') is a social democratic newspaper published in Gävle, Sweden. History and profile The first issue of ''Arbetarbladet'' was published on 14 March 1902. The paper is published in tabloid format. Fredri ...

'' and once (1953) from the magazine ''

Ny Tid ''Ny Tid'' (English: ''Modern Times Review'') is Norway's largest international quarterly review of non-fiction books – up to 50 in each issue. It is currently owned by Ny Tid & Orientering AS. ''Ny Tid'' is headed by the newspaper founder Tr ...

''. Wirtanen was a close friend and lover of the author

Tove Jansson Tove Marika Jansson (; 9 August 1914 – 27 June 2001) was a Swedish-speaking population of Finland, Swedish-speaking Finnish author, novelist, painter, illustrator and comic strip author. Brought up by artistic parents, Jansson studied art from ...

and a model for the

Snufkin Snufkin (original Swedish: ''Snusmumrik ''en' or ''Mumrik ''en', Finnish: ''Nuuskamuikkunen'') is a character in the Moomin series of books authored by Swedish-speaking Finn Tove Jansson, appearing in six of the nine books; his first appearance ...

character, whose green hat is borrowed from Wirtanen. The first ''

Moomin The Moomins ( sv, Mumintroll) are the central characters in a series of novels, short stories, and a comic strip by Finns, Finnish writer and illustrator Tove Jansson, originally published in Swedish language, Swedish by Schildts in Finland. The ...

'' comic strips were published in October 1947 in ''

''. The series had to stop earlier than planned, as readers criticized it and especially the

Moominpappa A large number of characters appear in the ''Moomin'' series by Tove Jansson. The original Swedish names are given with the etymologies and word associations suggested by Yvonne Bertills in her 2003 dissertation. Alicia ( sv, Alissa, fi, Ali ...

character for his bourgeois sympathies. Wirtanen published two memoirs: ''Mot mörka makter'' (''Against Dark Forces'') and ''Poliittiset muistelmat'' (''Political Memoirs)''. He also published several collections of aphorisms and other literary works. Wirtanen married dance artist

Irja Hagfors Irja Margareta Hagfors (November 4, 1905 in Helsinki – February 28, 1988 in Helsinki) was a Finland, Finnish dance artist, choreographer and dance teacher.Makkonen, Anne: ''One Past, Many Histories: Loitsu (1933) in the Context of Dance Art in Fi ...

in 1954. He died in 1979 in Helsinki.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wirtanen, Atos 1906 births 1979 deaths People from Saltvik People from Turku and Pori Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) Swedish-speaking Finns Social Democratic Party of Finland politicians Socialist Unity Party (Finland) politicians Finnish People's Democratic League politicians Members of the Parliament of Finland (1936–39) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1939–45) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1945–48) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1948–51) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1951–54) Finnish people of World War II 20th-century Finnish journalists