Otto Manninen
Encyclopedia
Otto Manninen was a Finnish
writer, poet, and a celebrated translator of world classics into Finnish language. Along with Eino Leino
in the early 20th century, he is considered as a pioneer of Finnish poetry. Manninen translated the works of Homer
, Sophokles, Euripedes, Heine
, Ibsen
, Petőfi
and Runeberg
into Finnish language.
and received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1897. From 1898-99 he was an assistant editor of the periodical Valvoja. His early translations of Heine were published in the student magazine of the University, Koitar in 1897. Parts of Heine
's Saksanmaa (Deutschland. Ein Wintermärchen
) were published later in the Valvoja in 1900 and the complete translation was published in 1904.
From 1907–1909 Manninen worked for the Finnish National Theatre
. In 1913 he became a teacher of Finnish language at the University of Helsinki, where he remained till 1937. Manninen was a member of editorial staff of several non-fiction books, including Tietosanakirja (1909–21), and the chairperson of the National Council for Literature for nearly fifteen years. During the Civil War
(1918), Manninen supported the White Guards
and he himself was a member of the Civil Guards.
On 10 February 1907, Manninen married Anni Swan
, a noted Finnish
writer of fairy tales and the books for children. They had three sons, Antero (1907–2000), Sulevi (1909–36), and Mauno (1915–1969). From the 1910s, the Manninen family spent their summers on the island of Kotavuori in Puulavesi, where they built a house. In the serene environment of Kotavuori, Manninen spent most of his time in writing poems and completing his translations.
In 1939, he received Hungarian Pen Club medal. Manninen died in Helsinki on 6 April 1950 after a short period of illness. In 1954, his statue by the sculptor Wäinö Aaltonen was installed in Mikkeli
.
Manninen published his works at long intervals. In 1910, his second collection of poems, Säkeitä II was published. Again, it took another 15 years to finish his next work, Virrantyven (1925). Virrantyven mostly consists of the poems written on various anniversaries, translations, and patriotic poems written in the aftermath of the civil war of 1918.
Manninen's last collection of poems during his lifetime, Matkamies was published in 1938. It included several poems, lsuch as Nyt (now) and Kaukainen tie (distant road), which dealt with the loss of his son Sulevi. In these poems, Manninen described him as a guiding star, helping his father to accept his own fate. An anthology of his poems, Muistojen tie was published posthumously from the poet's literary estate in 1951.
Manninen translated a number of world classics into Finnish which include Sophokles’ Oedipus the King
(1937), Euripides
’ Medeia (1949), Homer
's Iliad
(1919) and Odyssey
(1924) and Goethe
's Faust
(second part 1934, first part 1936) and Hermann and Dorothea
(1929). In his translations, Manninen tried to be faithful to the original.
He translated a number of works of the national poet of Finland, Johan Ludvig Runeberg
from Swedish language. He along with Juhani Aho
, Paavo Cajader, Arvi Jännes, Eino Leino and Alpo Noponen translated Runeberg’s Fänrik Ståls sägner
(Vänrikki Stoolin tarinat in Finnish) in 1909. He also translated Runebarg’s Hanna (1940), Kung Fjalar (1944) and Nadeschda (1948) into Finnish.
Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
writer, poet, and a celebrated translator of world classics into Finnish language. Along with Eino Leino
Eino Leino
Eino Leino was a Finnish poet and journalist and is considered one of the pioneers of Finnish poetry. His poems combine modern and Finnish folk elements. The style of much of his work is like the Kalevala and folk songs. Nature, love, and despair are frequent themes in Leino's work...
in the early 20th century, he is considered as a pioneer of Finnish poetry. Manninen translated the works of Homer
Homer
In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
, Sophokles, Euripedes, Heine
Heinrich Heine
Christian Johann Heinrich Heine was one of the most significant German poets of the 19th century. He was also a journalist, essayist, and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of Lieder by composers such as Robert Schumann...
, Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of prose drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre...
, Petőfi
Sándor Petofi
Sándor Petőfi , was a Hungarian poet and liberal revolutionary. He is considered as Hungary's national poet and he was one of the key figures of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848...
and Runeberg
Johan Ludvig Runeberg
Johan Ludvig Runeberg was a Finnish poet, and is the national poet of Finland. He wrote in the Swedish language....
into Finnish language.
Life
Manninen was born in Kangasniemi in a farmer family. He was one of the ten children of Topias and Matilda Manninen. After passing the matriculation examination in 1892, he took admission in the University of HelsinkiUniversity of Helsinki
The University of Helsinki is a university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but was founded in the city of Turku in 1640 as The Royal Academy of Turku, at that time part of the Swedish Empire. It is the oldest and largest university in Finland with the widest range of disciplines available...
and received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1897. From 1898-99 he was an assistant editor of the periodical Valvoja. His early translations of Heine were published in the student magazine of the University, Koitar in 1897. Parts of Heine
Heinrich Heine
Christian Johann Heinrich Heine was one of the most significant German poets of the 19th century. He was also a journalist, essayist, and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of Lieder by composers such as Robert Schumann...
's Saksanmaa (Deutschland. Ein Wintermärchen
Germany. A Winter's Tale
Germany: A Winter's Tale is a satirical verse-epic or narrative by the German-Jewish author Heinrich Heine.From the onset of the Restoration in Germany Heine was no longer secure from the state Censor, and in 1831 he migrated to France as an exile...
) were published later in the Valvoja in 1900 and the complete translation was published in 1904.
From 1907–1909 Manninen worked for the Finnish National Theatre
Finnish National Theatre
The Finnish National Theatre , founded in 1872 in the city of Pori, is located in central Helsinki on the northern side of the Helsinki Central Railway Station Square. It is the world's oldest theatre with performances in Finnish...
. In 1913 he became a teacher of Finnish language at the University of Helsinki, where he remained till 1937. Manninen was a member of editorial staff of several non-fiction books, including Tietosanakirja (1909–21), and the chairperson of the National Council for Literature for nearly fifteen years. During the Civil War
Finnish Civil War
The Finnish Civil War was a part of the national, political and social turmoil caused by World War I in Europe. The Civil War concerned control and leadership of The Grand Duchy of Finland as it achieved independence from Russia after the October Revolution in Petrograd...
(1918), Manninen supported the White Guards
White Guard (Finland)
The White Guard was a voluntary militia that emerged victorious over the socialist Red Guard as part of the Whites in the Finnish Civil War of 1918...
and he himself was a member of the Civil Guards.
On 10 February 1907, Manninen married Anni Swan
Anni Swan
Anni Emilia Swan was a Finnish writer. Swan wrote many books for children and young adults, was a journalist for children's magazines and worked as a translator...
, a noted Finnish
Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
writer of fairy tales and the books for children. They had three sons, Antero (1907–2000), Sulevi (1909–36), and Mauno (1915–1969). From the 1910s, the Manninen family spent their summers on the island of Kotavuori in Puulavesi, where they built a house. In the serene environment of Kotavuori, Manninen spent most of his time in writing poems and completing his translations.
In 1939, he received Hungarian Pen Club medal. Manninen died in Helsinki on 6 April 1950 after a short period of illness. In 1954, his statue by the sculptor Wäinö Aaltonen was installed in Mikkeli
Mikkeli
Mikkeli is a town and municipality in Finland. It is located in what used to be the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Southern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water...
.
Literary works
The literary career of Manninen started relatively late in 1905, when his first anthology of poems Säkeitä I was published. A number of poems in this collection were already appeared in other anthologies. In this work, Manninen used his huge vocabulary of old written language, to archaisms and his own neologisms, which went unnoticed. The reviews considered it difficult due to its compressed expression.Manninen published his works at long intervals. In 1910, his second collection of poems, Säkeitä II was published. Again, it took another 15 years to finish his next work, Virrantyven (1925). Virrantyven mostly consists of the poems written on various anniversaries, translations, and patriotic poems written in the aftermath of the civil war of 1918.
Manninen's last collection of poems during his lifetime, Matkamies was published in 1938. It included several poems, lsuch as Nyt (now) and Kaukainen tie (distant road), which dealt with the loss of his son Sulevi. In these poems, Manninen described him as a guiding star, helping his father to accept his own fate. An anthology of his poems, Muistojen tie was published posthumously from the poet's literary estate in 1951.
Manninen translated a number of world classics into Finnish which include Sophokles’ Oedipus the King
Oedipus the King
Oedipus the King , also known by the Latin title Oedipus Rex, is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles that was first performed c. 429 BCE. It was the second of Sophocles's three Theban plays to be produced, but it comes first in the internal chronology, followed by Oedipus at Colonus and then Antigone...
(1937), Euripides
Euripides
Euripides was one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, the other two being Aeschylus and Sophocles. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to him but according to the Suda it was ninety-two at most...
’ Medeia (1949), Homer
Homer
In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
's Iliad
Iliad
The Iliad is an epic poem in dactylic hexameters, traditionally attributed to Homer. Set during the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles...
(1919) and Odyssey
Odyssey
The Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other work ascribed to Homer. The poem is fundamental to the modern Western canon, and is the second—the Iliad being the first—extant work of Western literature...
(1924) and Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...
's Faust
Goethe's Faust
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust is a tragic play in two parts: and . Although written as a closet drama, it is the play with the largest audience numbers on German-language stages...
(second part 1934, first part 1936) and Hermann and Dorothea
Hermann and Dorothea
Hermann and Dorothea is an epic poem, an idyll, written by German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe between 1796 and 1797, and was to some extent suggested by Johann Heinrich Voss's Luise, an idyll in hexameters, first published in 1782-84...
(1929). In his translations, Manninen tried to be faithful to the original.
He translated a number of works of the national poet of Finland, Johan Ludvig Runeberg
Johan Ludvig Runeberg
Johan Ludvig Runeberg was a Finnish poet, and is the national poet of Finland. He wrote in the Swedish language....
from Swedish language. He along with Juhani Aho
Juhani Aho
Juhani Aho, originally Johannes Brofeldt, was a Finnish author and journalist.Aho's literary output is wide-ranging since he pursued different styles as time passed....
, Paavo Cajader, Arvi Jännes, Eino Leino and Alpo Noponen translated Runeberg’s Fänrik Ståls sägner
The Tales of Ensign Stål
The Tales of Ensign Stål is an epic poem written in Swedish by the Finland-Swedish author Johan Ludvig Runeberg, the national poet of Finland...
(Vänrikki Stoolin tarinat in Finnish) in 1909. He also translated Runebarg’s Hanna (1940), Kung Fjalar (1944) and Nadeschda (1948) into Finnish.