Authors

Finnish · 1834–1872

Aleksis Kivi

Aleksis Kivi is the father of Finnish literature: the first major writer in the Finnish language, whose novel Seitsemän veljestä (Seven Brothers, 1870) and play Nummisuutarit (The Cobblers on the Heath) established Finnish as a literary language and created the prototypes of the Finnish national character. Born Alexis Stenvall in Nurmijärvi, he changed his name to the Finnish 'Kivi' (Stone). He lived in poverty, struggled with mental illness, and died at thirty-eight having never seen his novel accepted by the Finnish literary establishment that later canonized him.