Ole Torvalds (4 August 1916 – 8 February 1995) was a Finnish-Swedish journalist and poet. He was the father of journalist-politician

Nils Torvalds Nils Ole Hilmer Torvalds (born 7 August 1945) is a Finnish politician who has been a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 2012. He is a member of the Swedish People's Party of Finland, part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for ...

and grandfather of software engineer Linus Torvalds famous for the Linux kernel. His full name was Ole Torvald Elis Saxberg, but he was also named Karanko after his step father,

Toivo Karanko Toivo Tuomas Savolainen, later Karanko (20 September 1891 Nurmes - 15 May 1969 Helsinki) was a Finnish Jäger captain and a journalist.Suomen jääkärien elämäkerrasto 1938Suomen jääkärien elämäkerrasto 1975 Studies Savolainen enrolled a ...

. His family belongs to the Swedish-speaking minority. In 1935 when he had moved to Helsinki for studies he changed his name to Torvalds. In 1944 he was awarded a literature prize from '' Svenska Dagbladet'' (shared with

Harry Martinson Harry Martinson (6May 190411February 1978) was a Swedish writer, poet and former sailor. In 1949 he was elected into the Swedish Academy. He was awarded a joint Nobel Prize in Literature in 1974 together with fellow Swede Eyvind Johnson "for wri ...

Lars Ahlin Lars Ahlin (4 April 1915 – 11 March 1997) was a Swedish author and aesthetician. Biography Ahlin left school when he was 13 to support his family, although he later attended several folk high schools. When he was 18, he had a mystical experi ...

and Elly Jannes). In 1978 he received an honorary doctorate from

Åbo Akademi Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; 16 ...

. His career as journalist was started as editor of

Västra Nyland ''Västra Nyland'' is a regional Swedish-language newspaper in Finland. The name of the newspaper translates into "The western part of the Nyland region (of Finland)", this region also being the area where the newspaper is circulated. The newspa ...

in Ekenäs where he stayed until after World War II. He was married to Märta von Wendt and had three children with her. After a divorce he became editor of Österbottningen in Karleby. Then he remarried with Meta Torvalds, fathered two more children and later became editor of

Åbo Underrättelser ''Åbo Underrättelser'' is a Swedish language newspaper published in Turku ( sv, Åbo), Finland. History and profile ''Åbo Underrättelser'' is the oldest newspaper still in print in Finland, founded by Christian Ludvig Hjelt in 1823. The fir ...

, of which he was the chief editor from 1958 to 1967.

Works

* "Vi sjunger inte för dem" (We don't sing for them), 1939 * "Ointagligt land", poems (Indomitable country), 1942 * "Hemligt medansvar" (Secret partial responsibility), poems, 1944 * "Svår glädje" (Difficult happiness), short stories, 1946 * "Strängar av aska" (Strings of ash), poems, 1954 * "Mellan is och eld" (Between ice and fire), poems, 1957 * "Vid källorna" (By the springs), 1961 * "Speglingar i en å" (Reflections in a river), 1972 * "Livstecken" (Signs of life), poems, 1986 * "Vågmärken" (Wave marks; literally Wave-formed ripple marks), poems about the archipelago 1937–1987, 1988 In addition, Ole Torvalds participated in compiling several cultural historical books and other works. He is one of the authors biographied by

Project Runeberg Project Runeberg ( sv, Projekt Runeberg) is a digital cultural archive initiative that publishes free electronic versions of books significant to the culture and history of the Nordic countries. Patterned after Project Gutenberg, it was founded ...

.Project Runeberg on Ole Torvalds
/ref>

Translations

* Hangö fästning, Reino Aaltonen * Ett sekel till havs, Effoas hundra första år 1883–1983,

Paavo Haavikko Paavo Juhani Haavikko (January 25, 1931 in Helsinki – October 6, 2008) was a Finnish poet, playwright, essayist and publisher, considered one of the country's most outstanding writers. He published more than 70 works, and his poems have been tran ...

* Nio mans stövlar,

Pentti Haanpää Pentti Haanpää (October 14, 1905 – September 30, 1955) was a Finnish author. He was born in Pulkkila, and is best known for his books ''Vääpeli Sadon tapaus'' 1935 and ''Noitaympyrä'' 1931. He died in Pyhäntä Pyhäntä is a municipality ...

* Efter applåderna,

Kosti Vehanen Kosti Vehanen (31 August 188713 March 1957) was a Finnish pianist and composer. As a pianist he performed in more than 3,000 concerts on four continents. While he did perform as a concert soloist with major symphony orchestras and performed in ...

* Sinuhe, egyptiern (''

The Egyptian ''The Egyptian'' (''Sinuhe egyptiläinen'', Sinuhe the Egyptian) is a historical novel by Mika Waltari. It was first published in Finnish in 1945, and in an abridged English translation by Naomi Walford in 1949, from Swedish rather than Finnis ...

''), Mika Waltari

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Torvalds, Ole 1916 births 1995 deaths People from Raseborg People from Uusimaa Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) Swedish-speaking Finns Writers from Uusimaa Finnish poets in Swedish 20th-century poets Ole 20th-century Finnish journalists