- Anni Swan
Anni Emilia Swan (married name Anni Manninen
4 January 1875 inHelsinki , died24 March 1958 in Helsinki) was a Finnishwriter . Swan wrote many books for children and young adults, was ajournalist for children's magazines and worked as atranslator . She is considered the creator of Finnish literature for girls.Swan's father was
Carl Gustaf Swan , a well-known figure of culture of his time, who founded the firstnewspaper ofLappeenranta . Anni Swan's mother Emilia Malin was a literature enthusiast and taught all of her nine daughters to readfairy tales andnarratives at an early age.The family lived in Lappeenranta from 1884 until the turn of the century. Swan went to an all-girl's school in
Mikkeli and graduated in 1895 fromHelsingin Suomalainen Yhteiskoulu . She became anelementary school teacher inJyväskylä in 1900 and worked in Helsinki from 1901to 1916. In 1907, she married writerOtto Manninen .Swan's first collection of
fairy tales , simply called "Satuja" ("Fairy Tales"), was published in 1901. Her first book for young adults, which was partly based on her father's recollections, was "Tottisalmen perillinen" ("The Heir of Tottisalmi"), published in 1917. This book is about an orphan farm-hand, Yrjö, who turns out to be, in reality, an heir to a large fortune. Her other well-known books are "Iris rukka" ("Poor Iris"), "Ollin oppivuodet" ("Olli's Apprentenceship") and "Sara ja Sarri" ("Sara and Sarri"). The courageous and resourceful main characters in Swan's young-adult fiction had been a roll-model for many heroes and heroines in later young-adult fiction.Swan was a journalist for the children's magazines "Pääskynen" (1907–1918) and "Nuorten toveri/Sirkka" (1919–1945). She furthermore translated, among others,
Brothers Grimm and the tales ofBr'er Rabbit andBr'er Fox as well as the first Finnish translation ofAlice's Adventures in Wonderland .There has also been an award for young-adult fiction named after her called the "Anni Swan -mitali".
Books
;Children:
* Satuja I–III (1901–1905).
* Pieniä satuja I–V (1906).
* Lasten-näytelmiä (1910).
* Tarinoita lapsille (1912).
* Satuja ja tarinoita (1917).
* Satuja (1920).
* Satuja VI (1923).
* Lastennäytelmiä II (1923).
* Kotavuoren satuja ja tarinoita (1957).;Young adults:
* Tottisalmen perillinen (1914).
* Iiris rukka (1916).
* Kaarinan kesäloma (1918).
* Ollin oppivuodet (1919).
* Pikkupappilassa (1922).
* Ulla ja Mark (1924).
* Sara ja Sarri (1927).
* Sara ja Sarri matkustavat (1930).
* Me kolme ja Ritvan suojatit (1937).
* Pauli on koditon (1946).
* Arnellin perhe (1949).External links
* [http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/anniswan.htm= Pegasos - A literature related site in Finland: Anni Swan]
* [http://haku.kansallisbiografia.fi/FMPro?-db=kbnet.fp5&-format=kb%2fkbartikkeli.htm&-lay=www&-sortfield=lajittelukentt%e4&net%5finit=%3dS&-max=100&-recid=33880&-find= SKS: Kansallisbiografia - Anni Swan]
* [http://www.lappeenranta.fi/?deptid=13020 Eteläkarjalaisia kirjailijoita: Swan Anni]
* [http://www.jyu.fi/tdk/museo/naisoppilaat/anniswan.htm Jyväskylän seminaarin naisoppilaita: Anni Swan]
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