Kaarlo Pentti Linkola (7 December 1932 – 5 April 2020) was a prominent Finnish deep ecologist,

ornithologist Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

, polemicist, naturalist, writer, and fisherman. He wrote widely about his ideas and in Finland was a prominent thinker.George C. Schoolfield, "A history of Finland's literature", U of Nebraska Press, 1998
p. 271
Linkola was a year-round fisherman from 1959 to 1995. He fished on Keitele, Päijänne and the

Gulf of Finland The Gulf of Finland ( fi, Suomenlahti; et, Soome laht; rus, Фи́нский зали́в, r=Finskiy zaliv, p=ˈfʲinskʲɪj zɐˈlʲif; sv, Finska viken) is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland to the north and ...

, and since 1978 he fished on Vanajavesi. Linkola blamed humans for the continuous degradation of the environment. He promoted rapid

population decline A population decline (also sometimes called underpopulation, depopulation, or population collapse) in humans is a reduction in a human population size. Over the long term, stretching from prehistory to the present, Earth's total human population ...

to combat the problems commonly attributed to

overpopulation Overpopulation or overabundance is a phenomenon in which a species' population becomes larger than the carrying capacity of its environment. This may be caused by increased birth rates, lowered mortality rates, reduced predation or large scale ...

Life

Linkola was born on 7 December 1932. He grew up in Helsinki and summered in Kariniemi in

Tyrväntö Tyrväntö is a former municipality of Finland in the Häme Province, now in Tavastia Proper. It was consolidated with Hattula in 1971. The northern part of the former municipality was transferred to Valkeakoski in 1978. Tyrväntö bordered Ha ...

at the farm of his maternal grandfather,

Hugo Suolahti Viktor Hugo Suolahti (7 October 1874 in Hämeenlinna – 23 February 1944 in Helsinki) was a Finnish politician, linguist and philologist. Before 1906, he was known as Viktor Hugo Palander. Philosopher Pentti Linkola was his grandson through his ...

. His father,

Kaarlo Linkola Kaarlo Linkola (surname until 1906 Collan; 1888–1942) was a Finnish botanist and phytogeographer. Linkola was docent of botany at Helsinki University 1919–1922. He was professor of botany at University of Turku from 1922, and at Helsinki ...

, was a botanist, phytogeographer, and the Rector of

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku (in Swedish ''Åbo'') in 1640 as the R ...

, and his grandfather Hugo had worked as the

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

of that same university. Linkola's half-brother, Anssi, was killed 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 ...

against the Soviet Union in 1941, at the age of 20.Kirja-arvio: Tyylikäs elämäkerta Pentti Linkolasta auttaa ymmärtämään kuohuttavaa ekoeksentrikkoa
Etelä-Suomen Sanomat One year after Anssi died, Kaarlo died of prostate cancer.Pentti Linkolan elämäkerta paljastaa kolmiodraaman – kalastaja, kirjailija ja ajattelija on myös naistenmies!
Aamulehti Hugo then died in 1944 due to a heart attack. Linkola had an elder sister, Aira, and a younger brother, Martti. After he graduated from

Helsingin Suomalainen Yhteiskoulu Helsingin Suomalainen Yhteiskoulu, commonly abbreviated SYK (English: "Helsinki Finnish co-educational school"), is a free elementary, middle and high school in the Etelä-Haaga district of Helsinki, Finland. History SYK was founded in 1886. It ...

in 1950, Linkola studied biology for half a year, then became a researcher. He lived in

Signilskär Signilskär is one of the westernmost islands in Finland, being part of the archipelago of Åland in the Gulf of Bothnia. The island, along with Katajaluoto, Hamnskär, and North and South Västerskär, makes up part of the municipality of Ha ...

Åland Åland ( fi, Ahvenanmaa: ; ; ) is an autonomous and 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 1,580 km2, and a populat ...

and made ornithological observations. Although he was one of Finland's most famous ornithologists, Linkola gave up his research career to live an austere life as a fisherman, as this was in line with his teachings. He was involved in the

Koijärvi Movement The Koijärvi Movement ( fi, Koijärvi-liike, ) was a Finnish environmental movement that started in the spring of 1979. Its objective was to prevent the draining of near Forssa, an important bird habitat. The struggle lasted for two years and b ...

that started in 1979, but his views proved too radical for mainstream Green politics. In 1995, Linkola founded the

Finnish Natural Heritage Foundation Finnish Natural Heritage Foundation sr ( fi, Luonnonperintösäätiö sr) is a foundation founded in 1995 by Finnish ecological activist Pentti Linkola. It was founded to preserve the remaining old-growth forest An old-growth forestalso ...

(), which concentrates on preserving the few ancient forests still left in southern Finland and other

nature conservation Nature conservation is the moral philosophy and conservation movement focused on protecting species from extinction, maintaining and restoring habitats, enhancing ecosystem services, and protecting biological diversity. A range of values unde ...

. The foundation receives donations from private individuals and companies, then purchases forest areas deemed unique enough to deserve protection. By 2017, the foundation had purchased 62 protected areas, spanning in total. On the 101st anniversary of

Finland's independence The Finnish Declaration of Independence ( fi, Suomen itsenäisyysjulistus; sv, Finlands självständighetsförklaring; russian: Провозглашение независимости Финляндии) was adopted by the Parliament of Finl ...

, Linkola was announced as the winner of a poll conducted by the national broadcaster Yle to determine who had done the most to preserve Finland's natural heritage. Linkola was married from 1961 to 1975, and had two children. He died in his sleep at his home in

Sääksmäki Sääksmäki is a village and a former municipality, currently part of Valkeakoski in the Pirkanmaa region of Western Finland. A past president of Finland, Pehr Evind Svinhufvud, the Finnish film producer and director Veikko Aaltonen, eminent Fin ...

on 5 April 2020.

Ideas

Linkola's views have been sometimes described as "

ecofascist Ecofascism is a term which is used to describe individuals and groups which combines environmentalism with fascist viewpoints and tactics. Originally, the term "Ecofascist" was considered an academic term for a hypothetical type of government ...

". He believed that democracy was a mistake, saying he preferred dictatorships, and only radical change can prevent

ecological collapse Ecological collapse refers to a situation where an ecosystem suffers a drastic, possibly permanent, reduction in carrying capacity for all organisms, often resulting in mass extinction. Usually, an ecological collapse is precipitated by a disastr ...

. He contended that the human populations of the world, regardless if they are developed or underdeveloped, do not deserve to survive at the expense of the

biosphere The biosphere (from Greek βίος ''bíos'' "life" and σφαῖρα ''sphaira'' "sphere"), also known as the ecosphere (from Greek οἶκος ''oîkos'' "environment" and σφαῖρα), is the worldwide sum of all ecosystems. It can also ...

as a whole. In May 1994, Linkola was featured on the front page of '' The Wall Street Journal Europe''. He said he was for a radical reduction in the world population and was quoted as saying about a future world war, "If there were a button I could press, I would sacrifice myself without hesitating, if it meant millions of people would die." Linkola's writings describe in emotional detail the

environmental degradation Environmental degradation is the deterioration of the environment through depletion of resources such as quality of air, water and soil; the destruction of ecosystems; habitat destruction; the extinction of wildlife; and pollution. It is defin ...

he witnessed. He dedicated his 1979 (''From the Diary of a Dissident'') to German far-left militants Andreas Baader and

Ulrike Meinhof Ulrike Marie Meinhof (7 October 1934 – 9 May 1976) was a German left-wing journalist and founding member of the Red Army Faction (RAF) in West Germany, commonly referred to in the press as the "Baader-Meinhof gang". She is the reputed author ...

, stating that "they are the signposts, not

Jesus of Nazareth Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...

Albert Schweitzer Ludwig Philipp Albert Schweitzer (; 14 January 1875 – 4 September 1965) was an Alsatian-German/French polymath. He was a theologian, organist, musicologist, writer, humanitarian, philosopher, and physician. A Lutheran minister, Schweit ...

". He supported acts of terrorism such as the

2004 Madrid train bombings The 2004 Madrid train bombings (also known in Spain as 11M) were a series of coordinated, nearly simultaneous bombings against the Cercanías commuter train system of Madrid, Spain, on the morning of 11 March 2004—three days before Spain's g ...

as he viewed them as disruptions to a society that is responsible for the degradation of the Earth. When asked in 2007 why he had not himself become a terrorist, Linkola said that he lacked the ability and bravery. Linkola was pleased to see the rise of

Greta Thunberg Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg (; born 3 January 2003) is a Swedish environmental activist who is known for challenging world leaders to take immediate action for climate change mitigation. Thunberg's activism began when she persuaded ...

, a Swedish activist seventy years younger: "I follow very closely what is said about her. After all, she's even a great girl in a little crazy way. Let's see how long she can still fight."

Reception

In the 2009 book ''Environmental Change and Foreign Policy: Theory and Practice'', Mika Merviö, Professor of International Relations at the Kibi International University, contended that while most environmentalists in Finland distanced themselves from Linkola, those concerned about the environment avidly read his writings. Merviö said that Linkola represents "a very Finnish and dark version of 'an inconvenient truth'." After Linkola's death, the incumbent Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto and Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Krista Mikkonen, both from the

Green League The Green League (VIHR, fi, Vihreä liitto , sv, Gröna förbundet), shortened to the Greens ( fi, Vihreät, sv, De Gröna), is a green political party in Finland. Ideologically, the Green League is positioned on the centre-left of the pol ...

, expressed their condolences and praised Linkola's significant efforts for nature conservation. Haavisto said that Linkola had influenced generations of environmentalists, and while Linkola did not defend human rights, there never was disagreement about conservation.

Works

* Linkola, Pentti & Olavi Hilden: ''Suuri Lintukirja''. Otava 1955, renewed edition 1962. * Linkola, Pentti: ''Isänmaan ja ihmisen puolesta: Mutta ei ketään vastaan''. Fourth edition. Helsinki: Suomen sadankomitealiitto, 1981 (originally published 1960). * Linkola, Pentti: ''Pohjolan linnut värikuvin: Elinympäristö. Levinneisyys. Muutto''. Otava 1963–67. * Linkola, Pentti: ''Unelmat paremmasta maailmasta''. Fourth edition. Porvoo: WSOY, 1990. * Linkola, Pentti: ''Toisinajattelijan päiväkirjasta''. Porvoo: WSOY, 1979. (In 1983 Linkola received the

Eino Leino Prize The Eino Leino Prize is an annual prize award to top writers in Finland since 1956, with particular emphasis on poets. It is named after Eino Leino, a pioneer of Finnish poetry. Recipients *1956 Viljo Kajava *1957 Helvi Juvonen *1958 Rabbe Enc ...

for this book.) * Linkola, Pentti and Osmo Soininvaara: ''Kirjeitä Linkolan ohjelmasta''. Porvoo: WSOY, 1986. * Linkola, Pentti: ''Johdatus 1990-luvun ajatteluun''. Porvoo: WSOY, 1989. * Vilkka, Leena (ed.): ''Ekologiseen elämäntapaan'': lead article. Helsinki: Yliopistopaino, 1996.Pentti Linkola: Writings
PenttiLinkola.com * Linkola, Pentti: ''Voisiko elämä voittaa''. Helsinki: Tammi, 2004. * Linkola, Pentti: ''Can Life Prevail?: A Revolutionary Approach to the Environmental Crisis''. UK: Arktos Media, 2nd Revised ed. 2011. (English translation of ''Voisiko elämä voittaa'', 2004).Cafaro, Philip. (2012)
Book review of "Can Life Prevail? A Revolutionary Approach to the Environmental Crisis," by Pentti Linkola.
Environmental Values. 21. 534-536. 10.2307/41714210.

References

External links