Aleksis Kivi

Born in 1834 in Nurmijärvi, Finland, Aleksis Kivi was the pen name of Aleksis Stenvall. He is widely regarded as Finland’s national author and is often credited as the first professional writer in the Finnish language.

Kivi wrote plays, poetry, and prose during the 1860s. His play Kullervo won a Finnish Literature Society award in 1860, while The Cobblers on the Heath received the State Prize for Literature in 1865.

His best-known work, Seven Brothers (Seitsemän veljestä), was published in 1870 and is generally considered the first significant novel written in Finnish. Kivi died in 1872 at the age of 38, but his influence on Finnish literature remains lasting.