Georg Henrik Tikkanen (9 September 1924,
Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...
– 19 May 1984,
Espoo
Espoo (, ; sv, Esbo) is a city and municipality in the region of Uusimaa in the Republic of Finland. It is located on the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland, bordering the cities of Helsinki, Vantaa, Kirkkonummi, Vihti and Nurmijärvi ...
) was a
Finland-Swedish
Finland Swedish or Fenno-Swedish ( sv, finlandssvenska; fi, suomenruotsi) is a general term for the variety of the Swedish language and a closely related group of Swedish dialects spoken in Finland by the Swedish-speaking population, commonly ...
author, known primarily for
anti-war literature. Several of his works are either autobiographical or semi-autobiographical. Though Finnish, he published primarily in his mother tongue,
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
. He was born and lived much of his life in
Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...
, and died of
leukemia
Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...
in
Espoo
Espoo (, ; sv, Esbo) is a city and municipality in the region of Uusimaa in the Republic of Finland. It is located on the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland, bordering the cities of Helsinki, Vantaa, Kirkkonummi, Vihti and Nurmijärvi ...
. He was married to the Finnish writer
Märta Tikkanen
Märta Eleonora Tikkanen (born 3 April 1935) is a Swedish-speaking Finnish writer.
Biography
Born in Helsinki, she has worked as a reporter for ''Hufvudstadsbladet'' from 1956 to 1961. She graduated from the University of Helsinki, Master of A ...
.
Biography
He was the son of architect Toivo Robert Tikkanen and Kylliki Ingeborg Vitali, great-grandson of and grandson of . Tikkanen was married to Lia Tikkanen from 1949 to 1962 and to
Märta Cavonius from 1963. Tikkanen had no formal artistic training. As a teenager he contributed illustrations to weekly magazines and children's books, and drew the series "Konrad" which was published in '. After graduating in 1943, he pursued liberal arts studies and received some guidance in graphic techniques from some active graphic artists. From 1947 to 1967, Tikkanen was a columnist and cartoonist for ''
Hufvudstadsbladet
''Hufvudstadsbladet'' (abbr. ''Hbl'') is the highest-circulation Swedish-language newspaper in Finland. Its headquarters is located in Helsinki, the capital of Finland. The name of the newspaper translates approximately into "Journal of the Capi ...
'' and from 1967 for the Finnish-language daily ''
Helsingin Sanomat'' and from 1977 for ''
Dagens Nyheter
''Dagens Nyheter'' (, ), abbreviated ''DN'', is a daily newspaper in Sweden. It is published in Stockholm and aspires to full national and international coverage, and is widely considered Sweden's newspaper of record.
History and profile
' ...
''. Tikkanen's cityscapes of Helsinki, in which he depicted the city's characteristics in simple lines, are particularly well-known. As a draftsman, he worked mainly in ink and produced a series of black-and-white drawings as a quick draftsman for various restaurants and companies in Finland. He participated in a large number of exhibitions in Finland, Denmark and Sweden. Tikkanen is represented at the
Gothenburg Museum of Art
Gothenburg Museum of Art ( sv, Göteborgs konstmuseum) is located at Götaplatsen in Gothenburg, Sweden.
It claims to be the third largest art museum in Sweden by size of its collection.
Collections
The museum holds the world's finest collect ...
and Svenska Klubben in
Ekenäs, among others.
Tikkanen is also known for his writing. He wrote a series of autobiographical and expository books, including , in which he came to terms with his
Finnish-Swedish bourgeois background. These books were one of the causes of the Tikkanen-Kihlman debate, which was partly about the negative image of the Finnish-Swedish upper class given by the two authors' self-confessions. As a book author, he published the book in 1955,
which he illustrated with types of people, street pictures, restaurant life and architecture from post-war Stockholm.
Bibliography
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Reviews
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Herdman, John (1980), review of ''Snob's Island'' in ''
Cencrastus
''Cencrastus'' was a magazine devoted to Scottish and international literature, arts and affairs, founded after the Referendum of 1979 by students, mainly of Scottish literature at Edinburgh University, and with support from Cairns Craig, then a ...
'' No. 4, Winter 1981–82, p. 46,
References
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Finnish writers in Swedish
Finnish military personnel of World War II
Recipients of the Eino Leino Prize
Deaths from leukemia
Writers from Helsinki
1924 births
1984 deaths
Swedish-speaking Finns
{{Finland-writer-stub