Kivi, Alexis (1834-1872)

Finnish novelist, poet, and dramatist. The first great writer in Finnish, he was most prolific as a dramatist and his comedy Nummisuutarit/The Cobblers on the Heath 1864 remains one of the most popular plays in Finland's theatre. His most important work, today acknowledged as one of the greatest products of Finnish literature, is Seitsemän veljestä/Seven Brothers 1870. An allegory of the Finns' emergence as a nation, it depicts every aspect of Finnish rural life: recklessness, strong drink, bursts of remorse and religious feeling, love of nature and the chase, and riotous humour.

The novel's unprecedented realism and naturalistic language shocked the critics of the day and they attacked Kivi mercilessly. Destitute and insane, he died shortly afterwards.