Hjalmar Fabian Parikka (16 October 1891 – 27 March 1959) was a Finnish revolutionary soldier, actor and
artistic director
An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre company or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogu ...
.
Life
Jalmari Parikka was born in the Eastern Finnish town of
Sortavala
Sortavala (; Finnish language, Finnish and ; ), previously known as Serdobol () until 1918, is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in the Republic of Karelia, Russia, located at the northern tip of Lake Ladoga near the Finland, Finni ...
and went to school in the Russian capital
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
.
Parikka started his acting career in 1910 as a member of a touring theatre in
Kajaani
Kajaani (; ), is a town in Finland and the regional capital of Kainuu. Kajaani is located southeast of Oulujärvi, Lake Oulu, which drains into the Gulf of Bothnia through the Oulujoki, Oulu River. The population of Kajaani is approximately , w ...
, where he had learned the profession of a
typesetter
Typesetting is the composition of Written language, text for publication, display, or distribution by means of arranging metal type, physical ''type'' (or ''sort'') in mechanical systems or ''glyphs'' in digital systems representing ''char ...
. As the 1918
Finnish Civil War
The Finnish Civil War was a civil war in Finland in 1918 fought for the leadership and control of the country between Whites (Finland), White Finland and the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic (Red Finland) during the country's transition fr ...
broke out, Parikka was head the Worker's Theatre in Enso. Soon he was named as the commander of the local
Red Guard
The Red Guards () were a mass, student-led, paramilitary social movement mobilized by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 until their abolition in 1968, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes
According to a ...
. During the
Battle of Vyborg
The Battle of Viipuri was a 1918 Finnish Civil War battle, fought 24–29 April between the Finnish Whites and the Finnish Reds in Viipuri. Together with the Battle of Tampere and Battle of Helsinki, it was one of the three major urban batt ...
, Parikka was one of the Red Guard leaders in charge of the city's defense. He was captured by the
Whites
White is a racial classification of people generally used for those of predominantly European ancestry. It is also a skin color specifier, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, ethnicity and point of view.
De ...
and sentenced to death, which was later turned into life in prison. After the 1921 general pardon, Parikka worked as an artistic director in the Worker's Theatres of
Pori
Pori (; ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Satakunta. It is located on the west coast of the country, on the Gulf of Bothnia. The population of Pori is approximately , while the Pori sub-region, sub-region has a population of a ...
and
Vyborg
Vyborg (; , ; , ; , ) is a town and the administrative center of Vyborgsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Karelian Isthmus near the head of Vyborg Bay, northwest of St. Petersburg, east of the Finnish capital H ...
and the theaters of
Mikkeli
Mikkeli (; ; ; ) is a List of cities and towns in Finland, city in, and the regional capital of, South Savo, Finland, located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population is approximately , while the Mikkeli sub-region of Southern Savonia has a populat ...
and
Vaasa
Vaasa (; , ), formerly (1855-1917) known as Nikolaistad (; ),Vyborg City Theater. Between 1938 and 1958 Parikka made more than 50 film appearances.
Selected filmography
*''
The Stolen Death
''The Stolen Death'' () is a 1938 Finnish thriller film directed by Nyrki Tapiovaara. The story is set in the Grand Duchy of Finland in 1904, and is about a group of Finnish activists in Helsinki who develop into a revolutionary force for Finnish ...
One Man's Faith
''One Man's Fate'' () is a 1940 Finnish drama film directed by Hugo Hytönen and Nyrki Tapiovaara and starring Gunnar Hiilloskorpi, Mirjami Kuosmanen, and Hytönen. It follows the downward spiral of the farmer Paavo after his wife dies in childbi ...
Pekka ja Pätkä lumimiehen jäljillä
Pekka and Pätkä on the Trail of the Snowman () is a 1954 Finnish film directed by Armand Lohikoski. It is the third installment in the thirteen-film ''Pekka Puupää'' series. The film, co-written by Lohikoski and Reino Helismaa, marks the first ...