Minna Canth | |
|---|---|
 Photograph of Minna Canth by Victor Barsokevitsch | |
| Born | Ulrika Wilhelmina Johnson 19 March 1844 Tampere, Finland |
| Died | 12 May 1897 (aged 53) Kuopio, Finland |
| Occupation(s) | writer, playwright |
| Notable work | The Pastor's Family The Worker's Wife Anna Liisa |
| Spouse | Johan Ferdinand Canth (husband) |
| Children | Anni Canth (daughter) Elli Canth (daughter) Hanna Canth (daughter) Maiju Canth (daughter) Jussi Canth (son) Pekka Canth (son) Lyyli Canth (daughter) |
| Parent(s) | Gustaf Vilhelm Johnson (father) Lovisa Ulrika Archelin (mother) |
Minna Canth (Finnish pronunciation: [minːɑ kɑnt]; born Ulrika Wilhelmina Johnson; 19 March 1844 – 12 May 1897)[1][2] was a Finnish writer and social activist. Canth began to write while managing her family draper's shop and living as a widow raising seven children. Her work addresses issues of women's rights, particularly in the context of a prevailing culture she considered antithetical to permitting expression and realization of women's aspirations. The Worker's Wife and The Pastor's Family are her best known plays, but the play Anna Liisa is the most adapted to the films and operas. In her time, she became a controversial figure, due to the asynchrony between her ideas and those of her time, and in part due to her strong advocacy for her point of view.
Minna Canth was the first major Finnish-language playwright and prose writer after Aleksis Kivi, the national author of Finland, and the first Finnish-language newspaper woman.[3][4] She was also the first woman to receive her own flag flying day in Finland, starting on 19 March 2007. It is also the day of social equality in Finland.
- ^ Minna Canth at the Encyclopædia Britannica
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Klassikkogalleriawas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Vuorikari, Outi. "Minnan elämäkerta lyhyesti". Minnan Salonki (in Finnish). Kuopion kaupunginkirjasto – Pohjois-Savon maakuntakirjasto. Archived from the original on 31 March 2016. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
- ^ Tellervo Krogerus: Canth, Minna (1844–1897), The National Biography of Finland, vol 2, pp. 103–106. Helsinki: Finnish Literature Society, 2003. ISBN 951-746-443-6. (in Finnish)