View source for Aleksis Kivi

{{Short description|National writer of Finland (1834–1872)}}
{{Title language|fi|italics=no}}
{{for|the opera|Aleksis Kivi (opera)}}
{{expand Finnish|date=June 2023|topic=bio}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name                      = Aleksis Kivi
| image                     = Aleksis Kivi.jpg
| image_size                =
| alt                       =
| caption                   = Earliest known image of Kivi, almost certainly by [[Albert Edelfelt]] (1873)<ref>[https://digi.kansalliskirjasto.fi/aikakausi/binding/870041?page=7 "Ellei: Runoilija Aleksis Kivi"], ''[[Suomen Kuvalehti]]'', 15 May 1873</ref>
| birth_name                = Alexis Stenvall
| birth_date                = {{birth date|df=yes|1834|10|10}}
| birth_place               = [[Palojoki]], [[Nurmijärvi]], [[Grand Duchy of Finland]]
| death_date                = {{death date and age|df=yes|1872|12|31|1834|10|10}}
| death_place               = [[Tuusula]], [[Grand Duchy of Finland]]
| known_for                 =
| notable works             = ''[[Seitsemän veljestä]]'' (''Seven Brothers'')<br>''[[Heath Cobblers|Nummisuutarit]]'' (''Heath Cobblers'')
}}

'''{{Lang unset italics|fi|Aleksis Kivi}}''' ({{IPA|fi|ˈɑleksis ˈkiʋi|-|Fi-Aleksis_Kivi.ogg}}; born '''Alexis Stenvall'''; 10 October 1834 – 31 December 1872)<ref name="Britannica">{{Britannica|319741|Aleksis Kivi}}</ref> was a Finnish writer who wrote the first significant novel in the [[Finnish language]], ''[[Seitsemän veljestä]]'' (''Seven Brothers''<ref>Translated as ''Seven Brothers'' by Alex Matson (in 1929) and again by Richard Impola (in 1991). Translated as ''The Brothers Seven'' by [[Douglas Robinson (academic)|Douglas Robinson]] (in 2017).</ref>), published in 1870. He is also known for his 1864 play, ''[[Heath Cobblers|Nummisuutarit]]'' (''Heath Cobblers''<ref>Translated as ''Heath Cobblers'' by [[Douglas Robinson (academic)|Douglas Robinson]] (in 1993).</ref>). Although Kivi was among the very earliest writers of prose and lyrics in Finnish, he is still considered one of the greatest.<ref>{{Citation |last=Robinson |first=Douglas |title=Majoritizing Kivi: Towards nl Hypercanonization |date=1 January 2017 |url=https://brill.com/display/book/9789004340268/B9789004340268_004.xml |work=Aleksis Kivi and/as World Literature |pages=84–146 |access-date=27 December 2023 |publisher=Brill |language=en |doi=10.1163/9789004340268_004 |isbn=978-90-04-34026-8|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Writers in Finland 1809-1916}}</ref>

Kivi is regarded as the [[Finnish national symbols#Prominent national figures|national writer of Finland]] and his birthday, 10 October, is celebrated as [[Finnish Literature Day]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2 February 2023 |title=Aleksis Kivi paves the way for Finnish lit – thisisFINLAND |url=https://finland.fi/arts-culture/aleksis-kivi-paves-way-finnish-lit/ |access-date=27 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230202010307/https://finland.fi/arts-culture/aleksis-kivi-paves-way-finnish-lit/ |archive-date=2 February 2023 }}</ref>

==Life==
Aleksis Stenvall was born in [[Palojoki]] village, [[Nurmijärvi]], [[Grand Duchy of Finland]]. His parents were the village tailor Erik Johan Stenvall (1798–1866) and Anna-Kristiina Hamberg (1793–1863).<ref name="Britannica"/> Aleksis had three older brothers – Johannes, Emanuel, and Albert – and a younger sister, Agnes, who died in 1851 at the age of 13.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.aleksiskivi-kansalliskirjailija.fi/fi/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=23&Itemid=37 | title=Kansalliskirjailija | last=Rahikainen | first=Esko | work=Aleksis Kivi | publisher=Nurmijärven kunta | access-date=11 August 2020 | language=fi | archive-date=6 October 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006083212/http://www.aleksiskivi-kansalliskirjailija.fi/fi/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=23&Itemid=37 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1846, Kivi left for school in [[Helsinki]]. In 1859, he was accepted into the [[University of Helsinki]], where he studied literature and developed an interest in the theatre. His first play was ''Kullervo'' (1860), based on a tragic tale from the ''[[Kalevala]]'', Finland's national epic. He also met{{When|date=December 2023}} the famous journalist and statesman [[Johan Vilhelm Snellman]] who became his supporter.<ref name="KB">{{cite web |url=https://kansallisbiografia.fi/english/person/2826 |title=Kivi, Aleksis (1834–1872) |last1= Sihvo |first1= Hannes |date=2014 |website= The National Biography of Finland |access-date=1 May 2016 }}</ref>

During his time at school Kivi read world literature from the library of his landlord, and during his university studies, he saw plays by [[Molière]] and [[Friedrich Schiller|Schiller]] at the [[Swedish Theatre]] in Helsinki.<ref name="AC">{{cite web |url=http://authorscalendar.info/akivi.htm |title=Kivi, Aleksis (1834–1872) |last1= Liukkonen |first1= Petri |date=2008 |website= Authors' Calendar |access-date=9 May 2016 }}</ref> Kivi also became friends with{{When|date=December 2023}} [[Fredrik Cygnaeus]] and [[Elias Lönnrot]].<ref name="AC" />

[[File:Seven-Brothers-1970.jpg|thumb|250px|The unruly ''[[Seitsemän veljestä|Seven Brothers]]'' on a 1970 Finnish postage stamp]] 
From 1863 onwards, Kivi devoted his time to writing. He wrote twelve plays and a collection of poetry. The novel ''[[Seitsemän veljestä]]'' (''Seven Brothers'') took him ten years to write. Literary critics, especially the prominent [[August Ahlqvist]], disapproved of the book, at least nominally because of its "rudeness" ([[Romanticism]] was at its height at the time).<ref name="KB"/> Ahlqvist also wrote "It is a ridiculous work and a blot on the name of Finnish literature".<ref name="AC"/> In a review published in ''Finlands Allmänna Tidning'', Ahlqvist wrote that "the brothers' characters were nothing like calm, serious and laborious folk who toiled the Finnish lands."<ref>{{cite web |last=Korhonen |first=Anna |title=Seitsemän veljestä |url=http://yle.fi/vintti/yle.fi/sininenlaulu/yle.fi/teema/sininenlaulu/artikkeli.php-id=386.htm |access-date=16 November 2024 |work=[[YLE]] |language=fi |archive-date=15 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160215011622/http://yle.fi/vintti/yle.fi/sininenlaulu/yle.fi/teema/sininenlaulu/artikkeli.php-id=386.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |date=21 May 1870 |title=Finsk litteratur VII |magazine=Finlands Allmänna Tidning |pages=2–3 |language=sv |number=116}}</ref> It is known that no other critic hated Kivi's writings as much as Ahlqvist, in which case the situation could almost be called "persecution",<ref>[https://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2014/09/23/aristoteleen-kantapaa-aleksis-ja-august Aristoteleen kantapää: Aleksis ja August] {{In lang|fi}}</ref> but the [[Fennoman]]s{{who|date=December 2023}} also disapproved of Kivi's not-so-virtuous depictions of rural life, which were far from their idealized point of view,<ref name="KB"/> and Kivi's excessive drinking may have alienated some.{{Citation needed|date=October 2018}}

In 1865, Kivi won the State Prize for his still often performed comedy ''[[Heath Cobblers|Nummisuutarit]]'' (''Heath Cobblers''). However, the less-than-enthusiastic reception of his books was taking its toll and he was already drinking heavily. His main benefactor [[Charlotta Lönnqvist]], with whom Kivi lived in [[Siuntio]] at the time of his creative writing, could not help him after the 1860s.<ref name="KB"/>

By 1870, while he was living at [[Franzén's cottage]] in [[Tapanila]], Helsinki,<ref>[https://www.iltalehti.fi/kotimaa/a/6c2d8be6-3437-4d0b-9f90-c690dc51529d IL: Helsinki aikoo myydä Aleksis Kiven entisen kodin – tältä se näyttää] {{In lang|fi}}</ref> Kivi's health collapsed. Assailed by typhoid and attacks of delirium, he was hospitalised. His doctor diagnosed melancholia due to his "injured dignity as a writer". The psychiatrist [[Kalle Achté]] concludes, based on a documentary survey, that Kivi was suffering from schizophrenia,<ref name="KB"/> although advanced [[borreliosis]] has also been suggested.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://teema.yle.fi/ohjelmat/juttuarkisto/kuoliko-aleksis-kivi-borrelioosiin|title=Yle Teema|website=teema.yle.fi|access-date=11 September 2017|archive-date=27 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130527195615/http://teema.yle.fi/ohjelmat/juttuarkisto/kuoliko-aleksis-kivi-borrelioosiin|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Kivi died in poverty in 1872 (aged 38) in [[Tuusula]], at the home of his brother Albert.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.visittuusulanjarvi.fi/en/artist-community/author-aleksis-kivi |title=Aleksis Kivi (1834–1872) – VisitTuusulanjärvi |access-date=11 August 2020 |archive-date=24 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200924182543/https://www.visittuusulanjarvi.fi/en/artist-community/author-aleksis-kivi |url-status=dead }}</ref> According to legend, his last words were, "I live" ({{langx|fi|"Minä elän"}}).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mtvuutiset.fi/artikkeli/mita-aleksis-kivi-sanoi-kuollessaan/2019060#gs.rs6f49|title=Mitä Kivi sanoi kuolleessaan?|date=13 April 2010 |access-date=14 January 2020|language=fi}}</ref>

==Tribute==
In the early 20th century, young writers [[Volter Kilpi]] and [[Eino Leino]] raised Kivi to the status of national icon. Eino Leino – and later [[Väinö Linna]] and [[Veijo Meri]] – also identified with Kivi's fate as an author.<ref name="KB" />{{Explain|date=December 2023}}

In 1936, the [[:fi:Aleksis Kiven palkinto|Aleksis Kivi Prize]], awarded for contributions to Finnish literature, was established.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hs.fi/kulttuuri/art-2000003832785.html|title=Kulttuuri: Miksi Suomessa jaetaan kaksi Kivi-palkintoa?|last=Pääkkönen|first=Sirpa|work=[[Helsingin Sanomat]]|date=7 October 1999|access-date=23 September 2022|language=fi}}</ref>

In 1939, the [[Aleksis Kivi Memorial]], a bronze statue of Kivi by [[Wäinö Aaltonen]], was erected in front of the [[Finnish National Theatre]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hamhelsinki.fi/sv/sculpture/aleksis-kiven-muistopatsas-waino-aaltonen/|title=Aleksis Kiven muistopatsas : Wäinö Aaltonen – HAM|work=HAM|publisher=.hamhelsinki.fi|access-date=11 September 2017|language=fi|archive-date=21 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180821223200/https://www.hamhelsinki.fi/sv/sculpture/aleksis-kiven-muistopatsas-waino-aaltonen/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Many streets in Finnish cities and towns have also been named after Kivi, such as [[Aleksis Kiven katu (Tampere)|Aleksis Kiven katu]] in [[Tampere]].<ref>{{cite magazine | last = Niemelä |first=Jari | title = Kansalliskirjailija sai nimensä yhteen tärkeimmistä kaduista | magazine = Tammerkoski | date = 2013 | number = 2 | pages = 6–7 | language=fi}}</ref>

In 1941, the {{ill|Aleksis Kivi Society|fi|Aleksis Kiven Seura}} was founded.

From 1995 to 1996, Finnish composer [[Einojuhani Rautavaara]] wrote [[Aleksis Kivi (opera)|an opera]] about Kivi's life and works.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fimic.fi/fimic/fimic.nsf/mainframe?readform&CC547D3BD3F1C1E0C22566A900442177|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071010060224/http://www.fimic.fi/fimic/fimic.nsf/mainframe?readform&CC547D3BD3F1C1E0C22566A900442177|archive-date=10 October 2007|title=Aleksis Kivi|publisher=Finnish Music Information Centre}}</ref> Two films have also been made: ''{{ill|I Live (film)|fi|”Minä elän”|lt=I Live}}'' (Finnish title: ''Minä elän'') from 1946, directed by [[Ilmari Unho]];<ref>{{Cite web |title='Minä elän' |work=Elonet |access-date=17 July 2020 |url=https://elonet.finna.fi/Record/kavi.elonet_elokuva_121719?lng=en-gb |archive-date=7 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191207081511/https://elonet.finna.fi/Record/kavi.elonet_elokuva_121719?lng=en-gb |url-status=dead }}</ref> and ''[[The Life of Aleksis Kivi]]'' (Finnish title: ''Aleksis Kiven elämä'') from 2002, written and directed by [[Jari Halonen]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Aleksis Kiven elämä |work=Elonet |access-date=17 July 2020 |url=https://elonet.finna.fi/Record/kavi.elonet_elokuva_1037541?lng=en-gb |archive-date=5 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191205221103/https://elonet.finna.fi/Record/kavi.elonet_elokuva_1037541?lng=en-gb |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Works==
===Plays===
{{Div col}}
* ''Kullervo''
* ''Lea''
* ''[[Heath Cobblers]]'' (''Nummisuutarit'', 1864)
* ''Karkurit''
* ''Kihlaus''
* ''Olviretki Schleusingenissa''
* ''Yö ja päivä''
* ''Leo ja Liina''
* ''Canzio''
* ''Alma''
* ''Margareta''
* ''Selman juonet''

===Other===
* ''Koto ja kahleet'' (story)
* ''Eriika'' (story)
* ''Vuoripeikot'' (story)
* ''Kanervala'' (poetry collection)
* ''[[Seitsemän veljestä]]'' (1870, novel)
* ''Runot, lyhyet kertomukset'' (poetry collection)
* ''Aleksis Kiven tarinoita'' (stories)
{{Div col end}}

== Gallery ==
{{Gallery
| title        = 
| align        =
| footer       =
| style        =
| state        =
| height       =
| width        =
| captionstyle =
| File: A_Kivi_was_born_here_H6919_A_Kiven_synnyinkoti_C.JPG
 | alt1=
 | Home where Aleksis Kivi was born
| File:20180919124159 IMG 0422.jpg
 | alt2=
 | House where Aleksis Kivi died
| File:Aleksis Kivi Nurmijärvi.jpg
 | alt3=
 | Aleksis Kivi's statue in [[Nurmijärvi]]
| File: Seitsemän_veljestä.png
 | alt4=
 | Cover from an early version of "Seitsemän veljestä"
| File: Aleksis-Kivi-1934.jpg
 | alt5=
 | 1934 postage stamp commemorating Kivi, by {{Interlanguage link|Germund Paaer|fi}}, after a sculpture by [[Wäinö Aaltonen]]
}}

==See also==
* [[Finnish literature]]
* [[Juhani Aho]]

==Kivi in English==
* Impola, Richard A., trans. Aleksis Kivi, ''Seven Brothers'' (English translation of ''[[Seitsemän veljestä]]''). New Paltz, NY: Finnish-American Translators Association, 1991.
* Matson, Alex, trans. Aleksis Kivi, ''Seven Brothers'' (English translation of ''Seitsemän veljestä''). 1st edition, New York: Coward-McCann, 1929. 2nd edition, Helsinki: Tammi, 1952. 3rd edition, edited by Irma Rantavaara, Helsinki: Tammi, 1973.
* [[Douglas Robinson (academic)|Robinson, Douglas]], trans. ''Aleksis Kivi's'' Heath Cobblers ''and'' Kullervo. St. Cloud, MN: North Star Press of St. Cloud, 1993.
* [[Douglas Robinson (academic)|Robinson, Douglas]], trans. ''The Brothers Seven''. Bucharest, Romania: Zeta Books, 2017

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== Secondary sources ==
* [[Douglas Robinson (academic)|Robinson, Douglas]], ''Aleksis Kivi and/as World Literature''. Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2017. {{ISBN?}}
* Tarkiainen, Viljo, ''Aleksis Kivi: elämä ja teokset''. WSOY, 1950.

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
{{wikiquote}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070211023814/http://www.aleksiskivi-kansalliskirjailija.fi/lang/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=26 Aleksis Kivi page maintained by Nurmijärvi municipality]
* {{gutenberg author| id=3865| name=Aleksis Kivi}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Aleksis Kivi}}
* {{Librivox author |id=4501}}
* [http://www.polyglotproject.com/books/Finnish/seitseman_veljesta Text of Seven Brothers in Finnish] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320135221/http://www.polyglotproject.com/books/Finnish/seitseman_veljesta |date=20 March 2012 }}
* [http://elias.finlit.fi/nummisuutarit ''Nummisuutarit'' – digital critical edition] {{In lang|fi}}. Eds. Jyrki Nummi (editor-in-chief), Sakari Katajamäki, Ossi Kokko and Petri Lauerma. Finnish Literature Society, 2011.
*[https://digital.lib.hkbu.edu.hk/translate/ The Aleksis Kivi Brothers Seven Translation Assessment Project], publicly accessible, provided by [https://digital.lib.hkbu.edu.hk/digital/project.php Hong Kong Baptist University Library]

{{Portal bar|Finland|Biography|Literature}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kivi, Aleksis}}
[[Category:Aleksis Kivi| ]]
[[Category:1834 births]]
[[Category:1872 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century Finnish dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:19th-century Finnish novelists]]
[[Category:19th-century Finnish writers]]
[[Category:Fennomans]]
[[Category:Finnish dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:Finnish male novelists]]
[[Category:Finnish-language writers]]
[[Category:National symbols of Finland]]
[[Category:Novelists from the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:People from Nurmijärvi]]
[[Category:People with schizophrenia]]
[[Category:Writers from Uusimaa Province (Grand Duchy of Finland)]]
[[Category:Writers from Uusimaa]]