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Maila Talvio (1871-1951) - pseudonym for Maria Mikkola - original surname Winter |
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Maila Talvio was a prolific Finnish writer and translator, who admired simple values of life, represented by idealized, unspoiled peasants. Her novels often registered ongoing cultural and historical currents and events – opposition to Russian policy in Finland, fennicisation ideology of the 1920s, and conservative suspicion about the leftist movements. Nowadays her fame rests on her historical novels, especially on the "Daughter of the Baltic" trilogy, for which she found material from the past generations of her own family. During the 1930s and early 1940s, Maila Talvio was along with V. A. Koskeniemi a highly visible advocate for German cultural influence in Finland. "Meid�n aikamme keksinn�t tekniikan alalla ovat huimaavat. Ja kukapa aavistaa mit� mahdollisuuksia sill� alalla viel� ilmenee. Kun meid�n maanosamme turvallisuus atomipommin keksinn�n kautta on k�ynyt hiukan turvattomaksi, niin miksemme me voisi yritt�� vallata Kuu-planeettaa, tai Mars-t�hte�, tai vaikkapa itse��n kaunista Venusta, kaikkia noita planeettoja, joita haaveellisesti olemme �in ja illoin ihailleet? Miksi emme voisi tehd� n�it� itsellemme alamaisiksi ja uusilla keksinn�ill� varustaa ne kaikin puolin mielemme mukaisiksi? Niinp� ei tulisi puutetta alueesta ja tilasta. " (from 'Ihminen ja h�nen peltonsa,' Juhlavalkeat: puheita by Maila Talvio, Porvoossa: Werner S�derstr�m Osakeyhti�, 1948, p. 31) Maila Talvio was born Maria Winter in Hartola, the seventh child of
a village parson. Because she couldn't pronounce the letter R
correctly, she called herself Maila; the name stayed with her. Talvio's
father, Adolf Magnus Winter, came from a family
with long traditions in clerical professions. Also her mother, Julia
Malvina Bonsdorff, was a daughter of a Lutheran minister. Talvio's father died when she was nine, and the family moved to a remote estate in Nipuli. "Nipuli oli lohkaistu Koskip��n suurista torpparil��neist� ja sen maat ulottuivat aina M�ntyharjun rajalle saakka. Olisiko is� tullut ajatelleeksi, ett� h�nen perheens� joskus voisi tarvita t�t� syd�nmaan taloa, jonne ei ollut edes maantiet� perille asti?" (Rukkaset ja kukkaset: muistin�kyj� by Maila Talvio, Porvoo: Werner S�derstr�m Osakeyhti�, 1947, p. 80) The family lived rather ascetically in the rural setting. The children had only a few toys, but they used imagination and created all kinds of plays for themselves. During this period she learned about the life of tenant farmers, who worked for the estate. Later, in her books, Talvio demanded reform of the tenant farm system. Talvio studied in Helsinki at the Finnish School for Girls, finishing her studies there at the age of 16. She then returned home to teach her siblings. At home there was a piano, but lacking a good music teacher, she chose writing as a way of self expression. In 1890 she met the linguist of Slavic languages J. J. Mikkola (1866-1946) – later professor at the University of Helsinki – and married him three years later. Mikkola opened her doors to Helsinki's literary circles – he knew the poet Kasimir Leino and writers around the newspaper P�iv�lehti and the poet Eino Leino. At that time, about 50 percent of Helsinki's inhabitants was Swedish-speaking, but Talvio, an ardent fighter for the Finnish cause, pretented not to know Swedish, and declated that she won't pay taxes unless her receipt were in Finnish. Eino Leino once described her as of "the country's best," but not without a hint of humor. Talvio published her first writings at P�iv�lehti and the magazine Suomen Kuvalehti. In protest against increasing Russian suppression – Finland was a Grand Duchy under Russian rule – Talvio joined other Finnish artists and politicians, making speeches, writing patriotic articles, and directed a literary club for students. Once she dressed herself as the Goddess of Liberty. Among her translation works was the religious study Ajatuksia ja kysymyksi� Ihmisen Pojan edess� (1894, Thoughts and Questions before the Son of Man) by the Swedish philosopher Potus Wikner (1837-1888). In his Confessions, not published until 1971, Wikner revealed that he was a homosexual. This was not known during Wikner's lifetime. The book was recommended to Talvio by Rev. Elias Bergroth. With her husband Talvio traveled in East and Central Europe, and
published travel essays under the pseudonym M. M. Especially the Baltic
countries under oppression became close to her. Talvio's
numerous journeys inspired her to study languages and she learned among
other Polish, translating several works of Henryk Sienkiewicz into
Finnish. At her home she created a salon, which became an
important meeting place and was frequented by many prominent writers,
including Ilmari Kianto, Otto Manninen and L. Onerva. Among the foreign
guests were the Russian writers Maxim Gorky and Aleksander Kuprin, and
a number of Baltic intellectuals. In the 1920s and 1930s her salon attracted German and Italian cultural figures, too. Eino Leino presented a satirical portrail of her in the play Maan parhaat (1911) in the character of Tiila Akkola; Juhani Siljo referred to her as the "Great Madam" in Seppel�ity (1918). As a writer Talvio became known by the Finnish version of her family name. Her career started with Haapaniemen keinu (1985, The Swing of Haapaniemi), a collection of short stories. It was followed by N�hty� ja tunnettua (1896), Aili (1897), about an idealistic young woman, and Kaksi rakkautta (1898, Two Loves), her first novel set in urban milieu. In the story a married woman, Elina, falls in love with a Lithuanian scholar, who is visiting Helsinki. However, after being widowed, she doesn't marry him but retreats to the country to work as a teacher. Literary fame Talvio gained with her Pime�npirtin h�vitys (1901, The Destruction of Pime�pirtti), a tragic family story which had connections with Selma Lagerl�f's romantic works. Although Talvio later contrasted the traditional Finnish countryside, healthy and pure, with the rottenness of the capital, in this incest drama her program was somewhat unclear. The tension between the Finnish-speaking tenant farmers and their Swedish-speaking landlords provided background for the story. Hanni doesn't know that she is the daughter of Otto von Holten, the owner of a rich estate. Otto visits once the small cottage of Hanni and her mother, Liena. Hanni feels attraction to the world of Otto, who seduces her without knowing her background. In the end of the story the reader meets Hanni again. She has become Jeannette, a dangerous temptress. Her life ends tragically, when her grandfather kills her. "Girl, you must die," he says and stabs her with a knife in the heart. The 1910s was a very productive decade in Talvio's life. Unconscious
powers and instincts started to explain much of the behavior of her
characters. Eino Leino characterized Talvio's short story 'H�m�h�kki'
(1912, The Spider) as the most strindbergian she has ever written. She
adapted into the Finnish stage Maurice Maeterlinck's
fantasy play L'Oiseau bleu and translated Hans Christian Andersen's autobiography. Niniven lapset (1915), Talvio's only satirical novel,
indicated by its very title (Children of Ninive) what her argument was:
Finns were corrupted by high living and Swedish associations. In the
story a well-to-do family moves from the country to Helsinki, a city of
caf�s, restaurants, tango, and intrigues. One of the characters
concludes: "The Nineveh of old is ashes and dust, and ashes and dust
shall every new Niveneh be." As a reaction of Eino Leino's play Maan parhaat, the poet is cast in a very negative light in the story. With the rise of the labor movement Talvio took some of her subjects from the life of the factory workers, but remained distrustful of socialism and communism. In 'Punaiset liput' (Red Flags'), about deer-stalking, Talvio compares the red flags to a magic charm which is used to capture a herd of cattle. Louhilinna (1906) presented Socialism in the character of a farmhad, who becomes an agitator, as a dangerous, violent movement, based on primitive instincts. T�htien alla (1910, Under the Stars), a love story, portrayed Helsinki as a sinful city. Through the decision of a young couple Talvio wanted to show, that the so-called "new" sexual freedom is only illusory. Silm� y�ss� (1917, The Eye in the Night), one of Talvio's major novels, depicts two families and the running of the hereditable traits in the life of the characters. The main character is a hermit, who observes the world trough his own philosophy of beauty. In her short stories Talvio studied the psychology of mass movements. Kurjet (1919, The Cranes) represented the right-wing view of the Civil War. In the center of the story Riikka Tuuna, who has highly moralistic views of life. She doesn't want to admit to herself, that she loves Arvo, whose sister Sylvi has "morally doubtful character" – Sylvi has an affair with an Russian soldier. Arvo joins the White Army and dies from a sniper's bullet. From 1918 to 1928 Talvio's books were more or less pessimistic – she suffered a bout of depression, but when her optimism had returned, she entered a new phase in her writing. Talvio was disappointed when the plan in 1918-19 to import Kaiser
Wilhelm's brother-in-law as the 'king' of Finland collapsed. From the
late 1920s she started to publish historically oriented books. The
best-known is Helsinki-trilogy It�meren tyt�r (1929-36,
Dughter of the Baltic), which presents the city as throwing off its
Swedish beginnings in order to fulfill a Finnish destiny. In the center
of the novel is the Suthoff family, prosperous merchants. The other
novels in the series were Hed-Ulla ja h�nen kosijansa (1931, Hed-Ulla and Her Suitors), and Hopealaiva (1936, The Silver Ship). The trilogy was published in Germany in an abridged edition. Linnoituksen iloiset rouvat (1941, The Merry Wives of the Fortress), Talvio's last novel, was set in the sea-fortress Sveaborg in Helsinki harbor, and brought the story up to the war of 1808-09. "Ja nyt sai h��huone "kuninkaan sukulaisen" suusta kuulla kummoinen linnoitus yleens� on ja kummoista el�m�� Viaporissa vietettiin. Jahah-jaa. Kun Helsingin kaupungista katselee Viaporiin p�in, niin ensimm�inen mik� siell� yll�tt�� silm��, on laivaston mastomets�, joka kuin revontulten j�ttil�iskruunu kokoaa muurien keskelt�. Jahah-jaa: salmessa saarten suojassa makaa maailman suurin laivasto, jolla amiraali Cronstedt voitti Ruotsinsalmen eli koko maailman loistavimman meritaistelun. T�t� laivastoa tekee monen kruununp��n mieli. Jahah-jaa." (from Linnoituksen iloiset rouvat: romaani vanhan Viaporin ajoilta, Porvoo: Werner S�derstr�m Osakeyhti�, 1941, p. 40) The title of the novel, which was adapted from Shakespeare, indicate one of the factors, that the writer saw behind the surrender of Sveaborg. When a daughter of a respected merchant wants to marry a Russian the ladies are horrified. "Ei milloinkaan viel� sivistynyt ruotsalainenn tytt� ollut mennyt ryss�lle! . . . Pappi ja pormestari tulivat hyvin� perhetuttavina selvittelem��n nuorelle neidolle, mitenk� portti nyt avautuisi vankkaan luterilaiseen linnoitukseen, jos verivihollinen outoine uskontoineen, tapoineen ja sieluineen p��stett�isin t�nne." (Ibid., p. 300) For the work Talvio spent much time researching archives and studying history. After a drunken man had hit her in the eye she had to stop her research work for a while. "Voiko neroa yleens� tukahuttaa? Eik� nerollisuus ole voima, joka puhkoo itselleen tien l�pi vuorten? Niin paljon kuin puhutaankin kirjailijain ja taiteilijain huonosta asemasta ja niin paljon kuin siin� on per�� — syntyyk� neroja, jos kirjailijoille voidaan taata huoleton toimeentulo? Ja jos nero on syntynyt, niin eik� h�n suorita luomisty�t��n vaikkapa luolan pimeydess�?" (from Opin sauna: romaani, by Maila Talvio, Porvoossa: Werner S�derstr�m Osakeyhti�, 1923, p. 16) During her long career, Talvio became a public figure. She
published
over fifty books – novels, short stories, speeches, and non-fiction.
"H�nen kirjansa kasvavat tavallisesti jonkin keskeisen idean ymp�rille.
H�nen mieliteemojaan olivat aikaisemmassa vaiheessa yhteiskunnalliset
kyysymykset, my�hemmin biologiset – etenkin perinn�llisyysoppi – ja
psykologiset ongelmat. On kuin h�nen mielikuvituksensa tarvitsisi
jonkinlaisen aatteellisen �rsykkeen luovaa toimintaansa varten." (Maila Talvio: kirjailijakuvan ��riviivoja by V.A. Koskenniemi, Porvoo: WSOY, 1946) Talvio's plays never attracted much attention. In addition to H. C.
Andersen, Maeterlinck, and Henryk Sienkiewitz, Talvio translated into Finnish works by Ludwig Anzenburger,
Bj�rnstjerne Bj�rnson, Carl Blink, Ivan Cankar, Gustav Frenssen,
Henrik Ibsen, Max Kretzer, Boleslaw Prus, Ivan Turgenev, and C. Wagner. Partly influenced by her husband, she
defended passionately Poland under Russian oppression and Baltic
neighbours. In 1939 she receive the Polish Academy of Literature Golden
Laurel award. When Nazi Germany invaded Poland, Talvio and Mikkola did
not protest it, which astonished their frends. In Villa Laaksola in Meilahti, the home of Talvio and Mikkola, her salon became an unique phenomenon in the small literary circles of Helsinki. Moreover, it made
her the target of gossips. It was claimed that she only
played with the feelings of her young prot�g�es and
promised more than she could deliver. Talvio's study was open only to her closest friends.
She said that her characters lived there. During the Winter War Villa
Laaksola served as the headquarters for Minister of Defense Juho
Niukkanen. After being allowed to return to her home, Talvio complained
of the damage done to its furniture and interiors. Much of her time Talvio devoted in the preservation of local arts and crafts. She helped to found a tuberculosis sanitarium and wrote a novel, Ne 45000 (1932), which dealt with the problem of the major killer at the time. Like
many conservatives, Talvio was sympathetic toward Nazi Germany. She
believed, even after the fall of the Third Reich, that there is
connection between the destinies of the Finnish nation and Germany: ".
. . on Suomen kansa sitten kasvanut voimakkaaksi osaksi
germaanilaisessa tammessa ja molemmille tulisi vahinkoa, jos ne
eroitetaisiin toisistaan." ('Kuokka ja kirja,' in Juhlavalkeat: puheita, p. 23) Talvio
regarded Germany as a defender of Europe against Communism. Especially
the Nazi motto "Blut und Boden" (Blood and soil) resonated with her
thoughts. In
1942, she joined Joseph Goebbels' European Writers' Guild. Curiously, it was the only time she visited Germany. Between
1941 and 1943 three of Talvio's books were translated into German,
which made her one of the most translated Finnish writers in Germany
during the war: Y�lintu: ein finnischer Herrenhof-Roman (Y�lintu) appeared in 1941, Der Verlobungsring (Kihlasormus) in 1942, and Pime�npirtin h�vitys in 1943, under the title Der Untergang von Pime�npirtti.
Upon learning about the death of Hitler, J. J. Mikkola said in a letter
to her, that what happens now is clearly the end of the world. (Kolmannen valtakunnan vieraat: Suomi Hitlerin Saksan vaikutuspiiriss� 1933-1944 by Markku Jokisipil� & Janne K�n�nen, Helsinki: Otava, 2013, p. 469) After Mika Waltari read in her salon an excerpt from his upcoming historical novel, The Egyptian, Talvio was appalled by the sexual liberalism expressed in the work, and tried to stop it being published. However, her opinion changed after the novel was published. (Unio Mystica: Mika Waltarin el�m� ja teokset by Panu Rajala, Helsinki; WSOY, 2011, pp. 556-558) When
the city of Helsinki celebrated its 400th anniversary in 1950,
Talvio was awarded a honorary doctorate by the University of Helsinki.
In 1936 she received the State Literature Prize, and Aleksis Kivi
Literary Prize in 1940. Talvio's books have been translated into
Swedish and German. Her translated books earned her the Golden Wreath
of the Polish Academy and the Heinrich Steffens Prize of Hamburg
University. Maila Talvio died in Helsinki January 6, 1951. She ordered all her papers to be burned after her death. The City of
Helsinki turned down her proposal to make her home in a museum.
Villa Laaksola was demolished in 1954. Her study was moved to the regional It�-H�me Museum in
Hartola. For further reading: Maila Talvio: kirjailijakuvan ��riviivoja by V.A. Koskenniemi (1946); 'Maila Talvio,' in Aleksis Kivest� Martti Merenmaahan: suomalaisten kirjailijain el�m�kertoja (1954); 'Maila Talvio' by Rafael Koskimies, in Suomen kirjallisuus IV: Minna Canthista Eino Leinoon, ed. by Matti Kuusi, Simo Konsala (1965); Maila Talvion vuosikymmenet I-II by Tyyni Tuulio (1963-65); 'Maila Talvio,' in A History of Finnish Literature by Jaakko Ahokas (1973); 'Maila Talvio,' in Suomalaisia kirjailijoita: pikakuvia by Eino Leino (1909; 2nd ed. 1983); Zur Rezeption finnischer Literatur in Deutschland: Maila Talvio und Kalevala by Christiane G�nzel (1997); 'Two Woman Writers and a Young Utopian' by Kai Laitinen, in A History of Finland's Literature, ed. by George C. Schoolfield (1998); 'Talvio, Maila,' in Encyclopedia of World Literature in the 29th Century, Vol. 4, ed. by Steven R. Serafin (1999); Satiiri Suomessa by Sari Kivist� & H. K. Riikonen (2012); Haltiakuusen alla: suomalaisia kirjailijakoteja by Anne Helttunen, Annamari Saure, Jari Suominen (2013); Kolmannen valtakunnan vieraat: Suomi Hitlerin Saksan vaikutuspiiriss� 1933-1944 by Markku Jokisipil� and Janne K�n�nen (2013); Omat huoneet: Miss� naiset kirjoittivat vuosisata sitten by Suvi Ratinen (2021); 'Mit� ikin� tapahtui Maila Talviolle?' in Kirjat ilman lukijoita: nelj� unohdettua suomalaiskirjailijaa by Topi E. Timonen (2024) - Note: Film Ja alla oli tulinen j�rvi (1937), about alcoholism, was based on Maila Talvio's story, prod. Suomi-Filmi, dir. by Risto Orko, starring Hugo Hyt�nen, Ansa Ikonen, Joel Rinne, Sylvi Palo, Hanna Taini, Kaarlo Angerkoski Selected works:
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