Finnish literature

Some fragments of Finnish literature survive from the 12th century; the first book was a primer published 1544. A complete Bible in Finnish was issued in Stockholm 1642. But the predominance of the Swedes and Swedish in Finland inhibited the growth of literature in Finnish until the 19th century, when it was launched with the publication in 1835 of Elias Lönnrot's epic folk verse compilation Kalevala. The earliest Finnish writer was Aleksis Kivi, whose classic comedy Seitsemän veljestä/Seven Brothers was published in 1870. The turn of the century saw the emergence of a crop of broadly realist writers, including Juhani Aho (1861-1921), Ilmari Kianto (1874-1970), and Joel Lehtonen (1881-1943) and the lyric poet Eino Leino (1878-1926). Mika Waltari (1908-79) attracted attention abroad with his Sinuhe egyptilä inen/Sinuhe the Egyptian 1945. Frans Emil Sillanpää (1888-1964) received a Nobel Prize in 1939. Vä inö Linna's Tuntematon sotilas/The Unknown Soldier is the definitive account of the Winter War of 1939. Modern writers include the poets Pentti Saarikoski (1937-83) and Paavo Haavikko (1931- ), and the novelists Veijo Meri (1928- ), Antti Tuuri (1944- ), and Leena Krohn (1947- ).