author

Paul Ferdinand Leino

A little-known Finnish author remembered for a sharp, lively village tale about choosing a new pastor. The surviving record is sparse, but his work captures local politics, personality clashes, and the humor of community life.

1 Audiobook

About the author

Paul Ferdinand Leino is an obscure author in the historical record, and only a small amount can be confirmed from readily available sources. Project Gutenberg lists him as the author of Kuinka Kettuniemellä kirkkoherraa valittiin, and the text itself presents the name "Ki Kustaanpoika [Paul Ferdinand Leino]," suggesting he also wrote under the name Kustaanpoika.

That book was published in Helsinki by G. W. Edlund in 1900 and is a Finnish-language fictional narrative set in the village of Kettuniemi. It centers on the community debate over who should become the next pastor after the death of a beloved clergyman, turning a local election into a story full of competing opinions, social observation, and small-town drama.

Because reliable biographical details about Leino are hard to verify, it is safest to remember him through the work itself: a compact, character-driven portrait of village life and public argument in Finland at the turn of the 20th century.