Frans Eemil Sillanpää ( 1888 –1964) was one of the most
famous Finnish writers and in 1939 became the first Finnish writer to be
awarded the Nobel Prize for literature.
Sillanpää was born into a peasant farming family in
Hämeenkyrö. Although his parents were poor, they managed to send him to school
in Tampere. In 1908 he moved to Helsinki to study medicine. Here his
acquaintances included the painters Eero Järnefelt and Pekka Halonen, composer
Jean Sibelius and author Juhani Aho.
Five years later, in 1913 Sillanpää moved from Helsinki to
his old home village, married, and devoted himself to writing. He won
international fame for his novel Nuorena nukkunut (The Maid Silja/Fallen Asleep
While Young) in 1931.
In 1939, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature
"for his deep understanding of his country's peasantry and the exquisite
art with which he has portrayed their way of life and their relationship with
Nature."
The asteroid 1446 Sillanpää, discovered on January 26, 1938
by the renowned Finnish astronomer and physicist Yrjö Väisälä, was named after
him.
Sillanpää died on 3 June 1964 in Helsinki aged 75. His
beret? I would say a Czech made Radiovka.
In 2013, a Finnish commerative 2 euros coin was issued for Sillanpää’s 125th.
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