Charlotta Maria Lönnqvist (4 February 1815

Siuntio Siuntio (; ) is a municipality in the Uusimaa region of Southern Finland. Its neighboring municipalities are Ingå to the west, Kirkkonummi to the east, Lohja to the north-west, and Vihti to the north. It is west of Helsinki. As of 2021, the p ...

– 27 April 1891 Siuntio) was a Finnish, Swedish-speaking cultural personality. She is mainly known as the benefactor of

Aleksis Kivi Aleksis Kivi (; born Alexis Stenvall; 10 October 1834 – 31 December 1872) was a Finnish writer who wrote the first significant novel in the Finnish language, '' Seitsemän veljestä'' (''Seven Brothers''), published in 1870. He is also known ...

who lived in her cottage, Fanjukars, in 1864-1871. She was also a known

wolfer Wolfer or Wolfger (also ''Walfer''; died between 1158 and 1161) was a German knight possibly from the Duchy of Swabia, who, alongside his brother Héder, settled down in the Kingdom of Hungary and became a member of the Hungarian nobility. Wolfer ...

, who was awarded a prize by the Finnish Hunting Association for her skills.

Life

Charlotta Lönnqvist was the daughter of the soldier Jonas Lönnqvist and Maria Forsström. She never married. After the death of her parents, she inherited her childhood cottage, Fanjunkars, originally called Bruses. Lönnqvist had a small saving capital and occasionally earned some money catering at weddings and funerals. In addition to catering, she even taught girls from larger manor houses how to take care of the household. From 1864 to 1871, the National Author of Finland,

, lived with her. Kivi was not unfamiliar with Siuntio as he had lived there before at his brother's farm house in Purnus. It was regarded improper for a male to live alone with a female of the same class (in which neither was employed by the other), and this caused rumors that they were lovers. Kivi wrote major part of his whole production in Fanjunkars. For instance,

Seven Brothers 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has symbolic associations in religion, mythology, supers ...

was written in Fanjunkars. Charlotta Lönnqvist participated in charity, and her relief work during the famine of 1866-1868 ruined her. Kivi therefore gave her an income from his writings in 1869. Lönnqvist passed away in Siuntio at the age of 76. She was buried in Siuntio cemetery, near St. Peter's Church, together with her parents.

Legacy

Lönnqvist is celebrated in Siuntio with various memorials. Her house, Fanjunkars, was destroyed during the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

lease of the

Porkkala Naval Base Porkkala Naval Base was a Soviet naval base operational from 1944–1956 in the Municipality, municipalities of Kirkkonummi, Ingå and Siuntio on the Porkkala peninsula, 30 kilometers (19 mi) ''west'' of Helsinki, Finland. The area was l ...

after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In 2006, Fanjunkars was reconstructed in the municipal centre with financial support from the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. A large memorial bronze slab, designed by

Alvar Aalto Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto (; 3 February 1898 – 11 May 1976) was a Finnish architect and designer. His work includes architecture, furniture, textiles and glassware, as well as sculptures and paintings. He never regarded himself as an artist, see ...

, dedicated to Aleksis Kivi and Charlotta Lönnqvist, is situated in front of Fanjunkars. Additionally, a road in Siuntio municipal centre has been named after Lönnqvist. In May 2025, it was announced that artist Iida Nurminen had won a competition for a new Siuntio memorial to Lönnqvist. The competition, organised by the Sjundby Traditionsförening, offered a first prize of 2,000 euros. Nurminen's winning design, ''Gynnarinnan - Laupiatar'' (English: ''The Benefactress''), is a life-sized bronze sculpture depicting Lönnqvist sitting on a large piece of granite with a goose beside her. According to current plans, the sculpture will be erected in front of Fanjunkars croft in Siuntio on 12 May 2027.

References

Suomen kansallisbiografia (National Biography of Finland)

Notes

1815 births 1891 deaths People from the Grand Duchy of Finland Swedish-speaking Finns 19th-century Finnish women {{Finland-bio-stub