Aukusti "Aku" Päiviö (2 April 1879 – 13 May 1967) was a

Finnish Canadian Finnish Canadians () are Canadian citizens of Finnish ancestry or Finns who emigrated to and reside in Canada. In 2016, 143,645 Canadians claimed Finnish ancestry. Finns started coming to Canada in the early 1880s, and in much larger numbers i ...

journalist, poet and socialist. With

Sanna Kannasto Sanna Kannasto (née Kallio; 1878–1968) was a Finnish Canadian labour activist and feminist. With A.T. Hill and Aku Päiviö she was one of the key figures in the Finnish Canadian socialist movement of the early 1900s. Authorities considered Kann ...

and A.T. Hill, he was one of the key figures in the Finnish Canadian socialist movement of the early 1900s. Päiviö was a

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

who saw education as the most important part of the

class struggle In political science, the term class conflict, class struggle, or class war refers to the economic antagonism and political tension that exist among social classes because of clashing interests, competition for limited resources, and inequali ...

.Saarinen, pp. 136–137.

Biography

Päiviö was born in the municipality of

Kärsämäki Kärsämäki (; literally meaning "snout hill") is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Oulu and is part of the Northern Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is wate ...

, Finland, in the

Northern Ostrobothnia North Ostrobothnia (; ) is a region of Finland. It borders the Finnish regions of Lapland, Kainuu, North Savo, Central Finland and Central Ostrobothnia, as well as the Russian Republic of Karelia. The easternmost corner of the region between ...

region. He emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 1902 at the age of 23. Päiviö worked as the editor of Finnish American newspapers ''Amerikan Uutiset'' (The American News), ''Päivän Uutiset'' (The Daily News) and ''Kansan Lehti'' (The People's Newspaper), published in Calumet and

Ironwood Ironwood is a common name for many woods that have a reputation for hardness, or specifically a wood density that is denser than water (approximately 1000 kg/m3, or 62 pounds per cubic foot), although usage of the name ironwood in English ma ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. In June 1905 Päiviö began as the editor of ''

Raivaaja ''Raivaaja'' (English: The Pioneer) was a Finnish-language newspaper published from 1905 to 2009 in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, by Raivaaja Publishing Company. For the first three decades of its existence the publication was closely associated wit ...

'' (The Pioneer), the Eastern newspaper of the

Finnish Socialist Federation The Finnish Socialist Federation () was a language federation of the Socialist Party of America which united Finnish language-speaking immigrants in the United States in a national organization designed to conduct propaganda and education for social ...

located in

Fitchburg, Massachusetts Fitchburg is a city in northern Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The third-largest city in the county, its population was 41,946 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Fitchburg State University is located here. History ...

.John I. Kolehmainen, ''Sow the Golden Seed.'' Fitchburg, MA: Raivaaja Publishing Co., 1955; pp. 86-87. He would remain in the position until the spring of 1906, after which he would remain on the staff as an Associate Editor until December 1909. Päiviö was married in 1906 and moved to

Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario. Its population i ...

, Ontario in 1912. For seventeen years Päiviö earned his living as a poet and a playwright. In 1929 he was invited by the Finnish Organization of Canada to work as the editor of their ''

Vapaus ''Vapaus'' (Freedom) was a Finnish-Canadian communist newspaper, published in Sudbury, Ontario from 1917 to 1974.C.M. Wallace and Ashley Thomson, ''Sudbury: Rail Town to Regional Capital''. Dundurn Press, 1993. . ''Vapaus'', whose content was pub ...

'' newspaper in

Sudbury Sudbury may refer to: Places Australia * Sudbury Reef, Queensland Canada * Greater Sudbury, Ontario ** Sudbury (federal electoral district) ** Sudbury (provincial electoral district) ** Sudbury Airport ** Sudbury Basin, a meteorite impact cra ...

. Ten years later Päiviö became the editor of literary and women's magazine '' Liekki'' (The Flame) that was established in 1935. Liekki was a magazine with more short stories, poems and entertainment than political thrust. Päiviös literary work include hundreds of poems published in several anthologies, three novels and six plays, of which three were for children. They were mostly written in Finnish. He died in 1967 in

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada.

Family

Aku Päiviö and his Finnish-born spouse Ida Hänninen (1882–1968) had six children, four sons and two daughters. Their son Jules Päiviö (1917–2013) was an architect and professor. He was the last surviving member of the

Mackenzie–Papineau Battalion The Mackenzie–Papineau Battalion was a Canadian military unit that volunteered to fight with the XV International Brigade on the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War. Except for France, no other country had a greater proportion of its popu ...

fighting in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

. As Jules volunteered the war, Aku wrote his best-known poem, ''To My Son in Spain'', dedicated to his son. Päiviö's son,

Allan Paivio Allan Urho Paivio (March 29, 1925 – June 19, 2016) was a professor of psychology at the University of Western Ontario and former bodybuilder. He earned his Ph.D. from McGill University in 1959 and taught at the University of Western Ontario fr ...

, was an emeritus professor of psychology at the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO; branded as Western University) is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thame ...

. He was best known for his

dual-coding theory Dual-coding theory is a theory of cognition that suggests that the mind processes information along two different channels; verbal and nonverbal. It was hypothesized by Allan Paivio of the University of Western Ontario in 1971. In developing this ...

. His other sons were Veikko Paivio (1910–1987) and Allan (Raikas) Paivio, and daughters Terry (Terttu Paivio) Hart (1908–1995) and Tilhi (Paivio) Simmons (1914–1992).

Biography

Family

References

Further reading