Maiju Lassila

Maiju Lassila was one of the best-known pen names of Finnish writer and journalist Algot Untola, who was born in Tohmajärvi in 1868 and died in Helsinki in 1918. He wrote under several names, but Maiju Lassila became especially closely linked with his most famous comic fiction.

Untola trained as a teacher before turning to writing and journalism. Under the name Maiju Lassila, he became widely associated with lively, ironic stories rooted in everyday Finnish life; Tulitikkuja lainaamassa (Borrowing Matchsticks) is the work most often connected with that name.

His life was as striking as his books. Sources describe him as an unusual, many-sided literary figure whose career took several unexpected turns, and his death came in the violent aftermath of the Finnish Civil War, giving his story a tragic ending that still shapes how he is remembered.