Alexis Kiwi Day, Finnish Literature Day (10/10)

On October 10, Finland celebrates the birthday of the founder of modern Finnish literature, Alexis Kiwi, and on the same day the national holiday — Day of Finnish Literature (Finnish) is celebrated. Suomalaisen kirjallisuuden päivä or Finnish. Aleksis Kiven päivä), which is one of the official flag days of Finland.

Alexis Kivi — is a pseudonym, the real name of the writer and poet — Alexis Stenvall (1834—1872). His main work — novel «Seitsemän veljestä» («Seven Brothers», 1870), which is recognized as a classic of Finnish literature, has been translated into several languages.

Alexis was born into the family of a rural tailor. Studied at the University of Helsinki. The first work was the romantic tragedy «Kullervo» (Kullervo, 1860, published in revised form in 1864) about a rebel slave, one of the heroes of the folk epic «Kaleval». Kiwi comedies «Shoes Nummi» (1864), « Engagement» (1866) and especially the novel «The Seven Brothers» contain features of realism. The novel shows a Finnish village during the initial period of its capitalization.

After his work «Kullervo» won a literary competition organized by the Finnish Literature Society, Kiwi had enough money to continue writing. He also wrote romantic tragedies from the life of middle and upper circles of Finnish society: «Runaways» (1867), «Canzio» (1868, staged in 1872) and the plays «Lea» (1869), not devoid of abstract religious and didactic motives.

Also Kiwi — is the author of a collection of poems «Kanerval» (1866), including lyrical, romantic and social poems.

The poet’s small poetic heritage reflects the daring impulse and humility characteristic of his work. Kiwi opened the way for a whole stream of literature in Finnish, which, however, was strongly influenced by foreign examples.

On the holiday itself, the national Flag of Finland is traditionally raised throughout the country, flowers are laid at the monuments of Alexis Kiwi in Helsinki and Nurmijärvi, and the Finnish Literary Society on this day announces the winner of the country's prestigious literary prize.

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