Eino Leino
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Eino Leino (July 6, 1878 - January 10, 1926) was a Finnish poet and journalist, considered one of the important developers of Finnish poetry. His poems combine modern poetry and old Finnish folk poems; the style of many of them is like the style of Kalevala and that of folk songs. The themes often are from nature, love, and despair, but he also wrote poems concerning current political events and ideals. Leino's poems are still widely read in Finland. Many of them have been composed into songs, among others "Nocturne".
Eino Leino was born as Armas Einar Leopold Lönnbohm in Paltamo. Eino Leino was the seventh and youngest son in a family of ten children.
Leino's first published poem dates to when he was twelve; the first actual collection of poems Maaliskuun lauluja was published when he was 18.
Early in his career Eino Leino was much loved and praised by the critics. He joined literary and newspaper circles and became a member of the Young Finnish circle. Among Leino's friends were the artist Pekka Halonen and Otto Manninen, who gained fame as a poet and translator.[1]
Over 70 books of poems and stories were published by him. The most famous of these are the two poem collections Helkavirsiä (1903 and 1916), in which he extensively uses Finnish mythology and folklore.
After the Finnish Civil War, Leino's idealistic faith for a national unity collapsed, and his influence as a journalist and polemic writer grew weaker. He was granted a State writer's pension in 1918 at the age of forty. Although publishing prolifically, he had financial problems and his health was giving way. "Life is always struggle with eternal forces," Leino said in a letter in 1925 to his friend Bertel Gripenberg.[2]
He died at the age of 47. He was married three times and had one daughter Eija.
