Authors

Finnish (Swedish-speaking) · 1818–1898

Zacharias Topelius

Zacharias Topelius was a Finland-Swedish poet, novelist, journalist, and professor whose fairy tales and stories for children — collected in Läsning för barn (Reading for Children, 1865-1896, eight volumes) — created the tradition of children's literature in Finland and remained standard school reading for generations. He also wrote historical novels and lyric poetry and was editor of the newspaper Helsingfors Tidningar for eighteen years. He was a central figure of Finnish cultural nationalism who worked in Swedish.