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Yrjö (Armas Kirso) Kivimies (1899-1980) - original name Uuno Armas Mattila - pen names: Kirso, Urbanus, Puumerkki | |
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Finnish writer, columnist, and essayist whose special fields were literature and linquistics. As a critic Kivimies was conservative, who admired classics, and opposed all that he considered modernist. His close friend, the writer and critic Kauko Kare once wrote that Kivimies had "French brains and English sense of humor." On the literary scene Kivimies stayed away from the spotlight and produced most of his writing in fields often considered marginal to literature. PABLO CASALS Yrjö Kivimies was born in Joensuu, as the son of Enok Mattila, a contractor, and Maria (Paavola) Mattila. He graduated from a secondary school in Helsinki, and in 1919 - like Aarne Haapakoski - he participated in the independence struggle of Estonia. Kivimies made his debut as a writer with SOTUREITA (1921), which was based on his experiences in Estonia. For a short time Kivimies studied at the University of Helsinki, but then devoted his time for chess and writing as a freelance journalist. During his career Kivimies published under 50 different pseudonyms columns for Uusi Suomi, Suomen Kuvalehti, Kuva and Seura. He was one of the central figures of the artist café Bronda, and in the mid-1930s he worked for the publishing company Gummerus. During this period he read such writers as Diderot, Winckelman, and Burchard, whoso culture historical views influenced his own writing. As a translator Kivimies started in the 1920s with Rudyart Kipling's works. Among his translations are works from such authors as Mark Twain, Edgar Allan Poe, John Caldwell, Edgar Wallace, Geoffrey Household, and Honoré de Balzac. In 1926 Kivimies travelled with Tahko Pihkala in the United States. This journey produced a highly popular travel book, "TAHKON" MUKANA JENKKIEN MAASSA (1928). The friends bought a car from Chicago, Nash, and drove to Iowa City, then from Fort Benning and Augusta to New York, about 4 500 miles. There was no safety belts in the car and "Tahko" started to plan "suspenders" that would keep the driver and passengers on the seat when the car was bumping on the bad roads. Kivimies's PIDOT TORNISSA gained a wide publicity, when it appared in 1937. In the conservative cultural atmosphere of nationalist Finland, it tried to introduce more or less fresh ideas, but at the same time the discussion is characterized by chauvinism, mistrust of left-wing ideas, and romantic suspicion about the deep masses of the people, which the Spanish philosopher José Ortega y Gasset had crystallized in The Revolt of the Masses (1929). For the book Kivimies collected representantives of the younger generation ('the Writer', 'the Scientist', 'the Journalist', etc.) to discuss anonymously about various subjects. The conversation was recorded by Kivimies. Among the participants were Olavi Paavolainen, Lauri Viljanen, Matti Kurjensaari, T. Vaaskivi and Urho Kekkonen. Kivimies's pseudonym in the group was 'the Conservative' and his own skeptical comments dealt often with cultural history. Later the conversation continued with new participants and topics in Toiset pidot tornissa (1954, ed. by Eino S. Repo), Pidot Aulangolla (1963, ed. by Erno Paasilinna), and Pidot Suomessa (1972. ed. by Erno Paasilinna). Nowadays the opinions presented in Pidot tornissa are mostly outdated. In 1938 appeared Kivimies's novel TOISEN ASTEEN IHMISIÄ, which was based on his comments as 'the Conservative' in Pidot tornissa. The protagonist is a student, and the novel mostly focuses on discussion of four eccentric polymaths in a second-hand bookshop. "Jos aloitat puheen sanomalla: 'Kuten elämä opettaa', niin voit jatkaa millä lailla tahansa. Ja elämä ja historia ovat yhtä. Kun historian todistukseen vedotaan, niin silloin on otettava samanlainen yksityistapaus ja sitäkin käsiteltävä varovaisesti, sillä kahtena eri aikana tai eri maassa sattunut yksityistapaus ei voi olla täysin analoginen." KAKSIKYMMENTÄ, his first collection of short stories, was published in 1943. From 1931 Kivimies published four collections of columns, SENAATTORIN PÄIVÄTYÖ (1931), TYHMYYDESTÄ SAKOTETAAN (1937), KANTAÄIDIN KYLKILUU JA MUITA SENTTAUKSIA (1953), and NELJÄKYMMENTÄ NELJÄ PAKINAA (1959). Kivimies became in the 1930s friends with the film director Teuvo Tulio and wrote with him two film scripts, Taistelu Heikkilän talosta (1936), based on Johannes Linnankoski's short story about an embittered farm hand, and Nuorena nukkunut (1937), based on F.E. Sillanpää's novel. In Taistelu Heikkilän talosta Kivimies softened the story and added a prologue. Kivimies and the director Teuvo Tulio received good reviews, his screenplay was considered faithful to the original work. Teuvo Tulio made a new version of the story in 1947, under the title Intohimon vallassa. Kivimies revised Nuorena nukkunut seven times, and and did not dealt with the traumatic Civil War of 1917-18, a controversial theme at that time, in the script. A scene in which a farmer peeps the young Silja, who is in sauna, was later cut out. Alone Kivimies wrote the scripts for Laulu tulipunaisesta kukasta (1938), based again on Linnankoski's work, Kiusaus (1938), love drama about a fisherman, priest and two women, and Varaventtiili (1942), based on a popular novel depicting love problems of a teacher. In 1946-48 he was subeditor at Suomalainen Suomi. He married Kaarina Saarnivaara in 1949 - at the age of fifty. In the 1950s Kivimies was one of the major opponents of modernist currents in literature. In 1961 he attacked Pentti Saarikoski's translation of Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye, because it used Finnish slang. "Unpleasant", was Kivimies's conclusion. "panssaroitu nyrkki Kivimies's best-known non-fiction publications include the synonym dictionary SYNONYYMISANASTA (1946), and the phrase dictionary NÄINKIN VOI SANOA (1964), in which recommends a number of worn out phrases for general use, such as "ajan hammas" (teeth of time), and "näki päivän valon" (see the daylight) as a synonym for "syntyi" (born). Kivimies's etymological explanations of words reflected his wide knowöedge of cultural history but are sometimes racist. "Keltainen vaara" (yellow peril) has become according to Kivimies "political reality at present." In 1956 he received the Linnankoski Award and in 19549 the Mikael Agricola Award. He became in 1960 Ph.D. (h.c.) at the University of Turku. Kivimies was a member of the National Council for Literature (1961). He died in Helsinki on March 18, 1980. For further reading: Ajan paineessa: kirjoituksia 1930-luvun suomalaisesta aatemaailmasta, ed by Pertti Karkama, Hanne Koivisto (1999) - Suomalaisia kirjailijoita: Jöns Buddesta Hannu Ahoon by Lasse Koskela (1990); Yrjö Kivimies 8.12.1899-18.3. 1980: Muistojulkaisu, ed. by Kauko Kare (1980); Aleksis Kivestä Martti Merenmaahan: suomalaisten kirjailijain elämäkertoja, ed by Martti Haavio (1954) Selected works:
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