L. Onerva

L. Onerva (real name Hilja Onerva Lehtinen, 28 April 1882 – 1 March 1972) was a Finnish poet. Onerva also wrote short stories and novels and worked as a translator and critic. In her works, she often dealt with tension in women's lives concerning freedom and commitment. She is also remembered for her complicated relationship with Eino Leino, as well as her marriage to the composer Leevi Madetoja.

Biography

Childhood

L. Onerva was the only child of Johan and Serafina Lehtinen. Onerva had only a handful of memories of her mother, because her mother was interned at a mental institution when Onerva was seven years old. After that, Onerva was cared for by her paternal grandmother, who – along with her father – became very close to her. Her father moved to Kotka in 1893 to become the building manager of a sawmill, but Onvera stayed behind in Helsinki to attend school. She went to a school for little children and then, at the age of nine, enrolled at the (Helsinki Finnish Girls' School) to attend its prep class. In 1893 she began a five-year school for girls.

Onerva enjoyed her studies, teachers, and peers and performed well at the girls' school. After the girls' school, she continued into secondary school (''jatko-opisto''), where she engaged in various extracurricular activities. Onerva was talented: she sung, wrote, painted, and recital. In continuing her studies, she studied French and acquired a preliminary teacher's degree in 1902. After two years of secondary education, Onerva began to prepare for her matriculation examination as a private student of Helsingin Suomalainen Yhteiskoulu since her secondary institution did not offer the possibility to take the examination. She graduated in 1909 with grades just a few points below excellent. On her final year of schooling, she pondered her career and future. She had a tough choice ahead of her, since she was interested in various different disciplines. At secondary school, Onerva had been inspired by theater and she seriously entertained the possibility to become a professional actor. In autumn 1902 Onerva enrolled in the department of history and philology at the University of Helsinki, but she never graduated.

Adult life

In 1905, Onerva became engaged to Väinö Streng, whom she had met in a university nation. They got married in October that year. The young lovers moved to Räisälä on the Karelian Isthmus, to the family estate of the Strengs. However, Onerva missed her childhood home and longed after her father, whom she visited often during early into the marriage. Later on the couple moved back to Helsinki. Onerva and Streng were constantly struggling financially. Onerva would get some income by working as an interim teacher and by opening a cinema with her husband in Lahti. The business did not succeed, and Onerva had to ask her father for money. In the spring of 1908, Streng and Onerva separated, but they continued to write to one another. Later, the couple divorced for good.

Onerva met Eino Leino for the first time in the beginning of the 1900s while still studying before her matriculation exam. She requested Leino to compose a festive poem to the convention of the school. Onerva asked Leino what career she should pursue. Leino then replied jokingly: "You should get married." Onerva and Leino met again later and fell in love passionately. They never married, though, and only lived together when abroad. Onerva and Leino lived abroad together for five months staying all over Europe. Onerva and Leino were constrained by financial woe and the trip was not particularly successful. Onerva meant much for Leino: she was his lover but also a companion and like a mother. Leino affected Onerva's work, too. Gradually, their relationship transformed into friendship, and they remained in good terms despite Onerva's marriage with Leevi Madetoja and Leino's many marriages. Onerva was supportive of Leino until his death and helped him with for instance his finances. When Leino died in 1926, Onerva began writing his biography. The biography was originally intended to be released the next year, but it wasn't until 1932 that it was published. Onerva has been shadowed by Leino, even though Leino himself never downplayed Onerva's significance. However, Onerva's work and person have always been paid less attention to than those of Eino Leino.

Onerva's second marriage was to Leevi Madetoja. Onerva and Madetoja met through Leino at a time when Madetoja was composing music for Leino's plays. Madetoja was five years her junior and a talented young composer. Their acquaintance gradually deepened into love. Their engagement was thrice announced in 1913, and they told everyone that they had been married. In truth, Onerva and Madetoja were not married until 1918. The marriage was childless, even though they wished to have children. They stayed together until Madetoja's death, but the marriage was affected by quarrels and alcoholism, which both of them suffered from.

The 1920s were prolific for Onerva, but by the end of the decade her health had started to decline. She was intermittently hospitalized for her heart, arthritis, and nerves. Despite her illnesses, in the 1930s Onerva finished her poem collections ''Yö ja päivä'' (Night and Day) and ''Rajalla'' (On the Border) and a collection of short stories ''Häistä hautajaisiin'' (From Wedding to Funeral). In the end of the 1930s, Onerva was transferred to Kivelä Hospital and from there to Veikkola's sanitarium because of her severe alcoholism. In 1942, Onerva was admitted to Nikkilä

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