Frans Eemil Sillanpää (; 16 September 1888 – 3 June 1964) was a Finnish writer. In 1939, he became the first Finnish writer to be awarded the

Nobel Prize for Literature The Nobel Prize in Literature, here meaning ''for'' Literature (), is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, "in t ...

"for his deep understanding of his country's peasantry and the exquisite art with which he has portrayed their way of life and their relationship with Nature".

Early life

Frans Eemil Sillanpää was born into a peasant farming family in

Hämeenkyrö Hämeenkyrö (; ) is a municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is part of the Pirkanmaa regions of Finland, region, and is located from Tampere. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. Th ...

. Although his parents were poor, they managed to send him to school in

Tampere Tampere is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Pirkanmaa. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Tampere is approximately , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately . It is the most populous mu ...

. At school Sillanpää was a good student and with aid from his benefactor Henrik Liljeroos he entered the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki (, ; UH) is a public university in Helsinki, Finland. The university was founded in Turku in 1640 as the Royal Academy of Åbo under the Swedish Empire, and moved to Helsinki in 1828 under the sponsorship of Alexander ...

in 1908 to study medicine. His acquaintances at university included the painters

Eero Järnefelt Erik "Eero" Nikolai Järnefelt (8 November 1863 – 15 November 1937) was a Finnish painter and art professor. He is best known for his portraits and landscapes of the area around Koli National Park, in the North Karelia region of Finland. He wa ...

and Pekka Halonen, composer

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

and author

Juhani Aho Juhani Aho, originally Johannes Brofeldt (11 September 1861 – 8 August 1921), was a Finnish author and journalist. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature sixteen times. Early life Juhani Aho was born at Lapinlahti in 1861. His ...

Career

In 1913 Sillanpää moved from Helsinki to his old home village and devoted himself to writing. In 1914 Sillanpää wrote articles for the newspaper '' Uusi Suometar''. In 1916 Sillanpää married Sigrid Maria Salomäki, whom he had met in 1914. By principle, Sillanpää was against all forms of violence and believed in scientific optimism. In his work he portrayed rural people as living united with the land. The novel ''Hurskas kurjuus'' (Meek Heritage) (1919) depicted the reasons for

Finnish Civil War The Finnish Civil War was a civil war in Finland in 1918 fought for the leadership and control of the country between Whites (Finland), White Finland and the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic (Red Finland) during the country's transition fr ...

and was controversial at the time due to its objective approach. Sillanpää won international fame for his novel ''Nuorena nukkunut'' (translated to English as ''The Maid Silja'') in 1931. In 1939, Sillanpää was awarded the

Nobel Prize in Literature The Nobel Prize in Literature, here meaning ''for'' Literature (), is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, "in ...

"for his deep understanding of his country's peasantry and the exquisite art with which he has portrayed their way of life and their relationship with Nature." A few days after he received the prize, talks between Finland and Soviet Union broke down and the

Winter War The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peac ...

began. Sillanpää traveled to Stockholm to receive the Nobel Prize and donated the golden medal to be melted for funds to aid the war effort. Before the Winter War, Sillanpää wrote the lyrics for '' Sillanpään marssilaulu'' to lift his spirits when his eldest son Esko was partaking in military practices at

Karelian Isthmus The Karelian Isthmus (; ; ) is the approximately stretch of land situated between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga in northwestern Russia, to the north of the River Neva. Its northwestern boundary is a line from the Bay of Vyborg to the we ...

. In 1939, Sillanpää's wife Sigrid died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

leaving him with eight children. Some time after, Sillanpää married his secretary Anna von Hertzen (1900–1983). In 1941 Sillanpää divorced his wife Anna. His alcoholism and other ailments needed hospital treatment. In 1943 he returned to public life as a bearded old 'Grandpa Sillanpää'. His radio appearances, especially his tradition of speaking on Christmas Eve from 1945 to 1963 attracted listeners. The

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet—an object larger than a meteoroid that is neither a planet nor an identified comet—that orbits within the Solar System#Inner Solar System, inner Solar System or is co-orbital with Jupiter (Trojan asteroids). As ...

1446 Sillanpää, discovered on January 26, 1938, by Finnish astronomer and physicist Yrjö Väisälä, was named after him.

Death

Sillanpää died on 3 June 1964 in Helsinki aged 75.

Works

* ''Elämä ja aurinko'' (1916) * ''Ihmislapsia elämän saatossa'' (1917) * ''Hurskas kurjuus'' (translated as ''Meek Heritage'') (1919) * ''Rakas isänmaani'' (1919) * ''Hiltu ja Ragnar'' (1923) * ''Enkelten suojatit'' (1923) * ''Omistani ja omilleni'' (1924) * ''Maan tasalta'' (1924) * ''Töllinmäki'' (1925) * ''Rippi'' (1928) * ''Kiitos hetkistä, Herra...'' (1930) * ''Nuorena nukkunut'' (translated as ''The Maid Silja'') (1931) * ''Miehen tie'' (1932) * ''Virranpohjalta'' (1933) * (translated as ''People in the Summer Night'') (1934) * ''Viidestoista'' (1936) * ''Elokuu'' (1941) * ''Ihmiselon ihanuus ja kurjuus'' (1945)

Films

Numerous of his works have been made into films: * ''Nuorena nukkunut'', Teuvo Tulio. 1937 * '' One Man's Faith'',

Nyrki Tapiovaara Nyrki Tapiovaara, born 10 September 1911 in Pitäjänmäki, Helsinki, died 29 February 1940, was a Finnish film director. He belonged to the Tulenkantajat group which promoted modernism, modernist ideas in Finnish culture. Tapiovaara's film career ...

and Hugo Hytönen. 1940 * '' Ihmiset suviyössä'', Valentin Vaala. 1948 * ''Poika eli kesäänsä'', Roland af Hällström. 1955 (based on novel ''Elämä ja aurinko'') * '' The Harvest Month'', Matti Kassila. 1956 * ''Silja – nuorena nukkunut'', Jack Witikka. 1956 * '' The Glory and Misery of Human Life'', Matti Kassila. 1988

References

External links

"The Game Behind Finland's First Nobel prize"
article (in Swedish; based on documents in the Nobel Archive), first published in

Svenska Dagbladet (, "The Swedish Daily News"), abbreviated SvD, is a daily List of Swedish newspapers, newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden. History and profile The first issue of appeared on 18 December 1884. During the beginning of the 1900s the pap ...

, 5 December 2009; later published in the Finnish daily newspaper

Helsingin Sanomat , abbreviated ''HS'' and colloquially known as , is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. Its name derives from that of the Finnish capital ...

.
F. E. Sillanpään Seura
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List of Works
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sillanpaa, Frans Eemil 1888 births 1964 deaths People from Hämeenkyrö People from Turku and Pori Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) Writers from Pirkanmaa Finnish Nobel laureates Finnish-language writers Nobel laureates in Literature 20th-century Finnish novelists