Alexander (Alex) Thiodolf Federley (12 July 1864, in

Turku 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''; ...

– 17 November 1932, in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

) was a Swedish-Finnish graphic artist who created political cartoons, posters, book illustrations and postcards. His works are generally signed AFley.

Biography

His father was a military judge. He studied at the drawing school of the Finnish Art Society (now part of the

Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki The Academy of Fine Arts ( fi, Kuvataideakatemia; sv, Bildkonstakademin) in Helsinki, Finland is part of the University of the Arts Helsinki and provides the highest university-level theoretical and practical training in the country in fine arts. ...

), from 1885 to 1888, then attended the

Académie Julian The Académie Julian () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907) that was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number a ...

in Paris from 1890 to 1893, where he studied with

Jules Joseph Lefebvre Jules Joseph Lefebvre (; 14 March 183624 February 1911) was a French figure painter, educator and theorist. Early life Lefebvre was born in Tournan-en-Brie, Seine-et-Marne, on 14 March 1836. He entered the École nationale supérieure des Bea ...

and

Tony Robert-Fleury Tony Robert-Fleury (1 September 18378 December 1911) was a French painter, known primarily for historical scenes. He was also a prominent art teacher, with many famous artists among his students. Biography He was born just outside Paris, and st ...

.Brief biography
by Aimo Reitala @ Biografiskt Lexikon för Finland. In the late 1880s, he was already providing illustrations to the Swedish-language satirical magazine ' (Nib), then to the Finnish-language equivalent, ' (Dear Brother), published by the

Young Finnish Party The Young Finnish Party or Constitutional-Fennoman Party ( fi, Nuorsuomalainen Puolue or ) was a liberal and nationalist political party in the Grand Duchy of Finland. It began as an upper-class reformist movement during the 1870s and formed as a ...

. During that time, he also became one of the first political cartoonists in Finland to sign his drawings. Among his best-known book illustrations are those for the multi-volume collection of historical short-stories, (The Surgeon's Tales), by

Zachris Topelius Zachris Topelius (, ; 14 January 181812 March 1898) was a Finnish author, poet, journalist, historian, and rector of the University of Helsinki who wrote novels related to Finnish history. Given name Zacharias is his baptismal name, and this ...

. In 1898, he became a regular contributor to ' (Lighthouse), published by the Swedish Party (forerunner to the

Swedish People's Party of Finland The Swedish People's Party of Finland ( sv, Svenska folkpartiet i Finland (SFP); fi, Suomen ruotsalainen kansanpuolue (RKP)) is a political party in Finland aiming to represent the interests of the minority Swedish-speaking population of Finland ...

) and remained associated with it until its demise in 1922. In 1907, he designed the party's election poster, which was used repeatedly and as late as 1966. During the 1920s, he was the party's representative to the

Haaga Haaga ( sv, Haga köping) is a district and a former municipality in the Western major district of Helsinki with a population of 25,435.http://www.hel2.fi/tietokeskus/helsinki_alueittain_2005/203Haaga.pdf 2005 statistics about Haaga Haaga is d ...

Township Council. In addition to his other activities, from 1894 to 1916, he was the Chief Curator for the "Finnish Artists' Association", and he taught at a boys' preparatory vocational school from 1900 until his death, serving as the school's Director after 1909. His wife, , was also an artist.

Selected works

File:A Federley Kajana 1908.jpg, Postcard of lumber in the rapids near

Kajaani Kajaani (; sv, Kajana) is the most populous town and the capital of the Kainuu Region of Finland. It is located southeast of Lake Oulu (Oulujärvi), which drains into the Gulf of Bothnia through the Oulu River (Oulujoki). As of , it had a pop ...

File:Satire drawn by Alex Federley without texts.png, "Haven't I told you to keep your mouth shut when
talking to people?!" File:Federley Velikulta XII1906.jpg, Men representing various political parties, competing for the

Finnish Maiden The Maiden of Finland ( fi, Suomi-neito, sv, Finlands mö) is the national personification of Finland. Personification She is a barefoot young woman in her mid-twenties with blonde hair, blue eyes, wearing a blue and white national costume or ...

File:Sibelius pilapiirros.jpg, Caricature of

Jean Sibelius Jean Sibelius ( ; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic and 20th-century classical music, early-modern periods. He is widely regarded as his country's greatest com ...

Books by Federley

* Bildkonst, 1929 (Pictures and songs: small chips and splinters – in colors and words – from my desk; published in Finnish as A. L., Kuvataide,

929 Year 929 ( CMXXIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * January 16 – Emir Abd-al-Rahman III of Córdoba proclaims himself caliph and create ...

* , Söderströms, 1922 (Fairy tales about animals and birds...mostly birds.)

References

External links

More postcards by Federley
@ Histdoc.net {{DEFAULTSORT:Federley, Alex 1864 births 1932 deaths People from Turku People from Turku and Pori Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) Swedish-speaking Finns Finnish artists Finnish cartoonists Finnish illustrators Postcard artists Académie Julian alumni