Larin Paraske (December 27, 1833 – January 3, 1904) was an Izhorian

oral poet Oral poetry is a form of poetry that is composed and transmitted without the aid of writing. The complex relationships between written and spoken literature in some societies can make this definition hard to maintain. Background Oral poetry is ...

. She is considered a key figure in Finnish folk poetry and has been called the "Finnish

Mnemosyne In Greek mythology and ancient Greek religion, Mnemosyne (; grc, Μνημοσύνη, ) is the goddess of memory and the mother of the nine Muses by her nephew Zeus. In the Greek tradition, Mnemosyne is one of the Titans, the twelve divine ch ...

". Her frequent listeners included several romantic nationalist artists, such as

Jean Sibelius Jean Sibelius ( ; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic and early-modern periods. He is widely regarded as his country's greatest composer, and his music is often ...

, seeking inspiration from her interpretations of '' Kalevala'', an epic poem compiled from Finnish

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, r ...

by Elias Lönnrot. Paraske could recite over 32,000 verses of poetry, which made her an important source for Karelian culture. Her poems were written down by Adolf Neovius in the 1880s, and after several years of work, approximately 1200 poems, 1750 proverbs and 336 riddles were documented, along with several Finnic

lamentation A lament or lamentation is a passionate expression of grief, often in music, poetry, or song form. The grief is most often born of regret, or mourning. Laments can also be expressed in a verbal manner in which participants lament about somethi ...

s known as ''itkuvirsi'', performed by crying and sobbing.

Biography

Paraske was born as Paraskeva Nikitina, her official Russian name, in Lempaala, Northern

Ingria Ingria is a historical region in what is now northwestern European Russia. It lies along the southeastern shore of the Gulf of Finland, bordered by Lake Ladoga on the Karelian Isthmus in the north and by the River Narva on the border with E ...

. Her father Mikitta Mikitanpoika (1802–1851) was a landless peasant, a ''lampuoti'', who rented a farm. Both of her parents were ethnic

Izhorians The Izhorians (russian: Ижо́ра; ижо́рцы; fi, inkerikot; et, isurid; sg. ''ižoralain'', ''inkeroin'', ''ižora'', ''ingermans'', ''ingers'', ''ingrian'', pl. ''ižoralaizet''), along with the Votes, are a Finnic indigenous peopl ...

. Paraske took on poetry at early age by memorizing all the poems known in the area, and creating many more herself. Her relatives, Timon Tarja and Kondrolan Maura, were also prolific poets. Paraske's father died in 1851 and her mother, Tatjana Vasilovna, had died three years earlier in 1848. In 1853, Paraske married a peasant named Kaurila Teppananpoika, or Gavril Stepanov, from Vaskela village in Sakkola (later

Metsäpirtti Zaporozhskoye (russian: Запоро́жское; fi, Metsäpirtti) is a settlement on Karelian Isthmus, in Priozersky District of Leningrad Oblast. Before the Winter War and Continuation War it was the administrative center of the Metsäpirtti ...

municipality) of Viipuri Province. Her husband was sickly and 20 years older than she was, but the marriage produced nine children during the years from 1855 to 1878; only three of them survived until adulthood. Besides her own children, Paraske cared for 50 orphans from St. Petersburg. Her life was hard as the livelihood of the family depended on her income. Her husband died in 1888. Paraske's life changed in 1887, when she came to the attention of the clergyman Adolf Neovius, who was documenting national folk poetry. Neovius recognized her talent and paid Paraske a

ruble The ruble (American English) or rouble (Commonwealth English) (; rus, рубль, p=rublʲ) is the currency unit of Belarus and Russia. Historically, it was the currency of the Russian Empire and of the Soviet Union. , currencies named ''rub ...

per hour for singing her poetry. With this money, Paraske was able to save her house from seizure. Their collaboration resulted in transcriptions of 1200 poems, 1750 proverbs and 336 riddles. Her poems had earlier been written down by

A. Borenius-Lähteenkorva A is the first letter of the Latin and English alphabet. A may also refer to: Science and technology Quantities and units * ''a'', a measure for the attraction between particles in the Van der Waals equation * ''A'' value, a measure o ...

in 1877, but this work consisted of only 26 poems. In 1891, Neovius moved to

Porvoo Porvoo (; sv, Borgå ; la, Borgoa) is a city and a municipality in the Uusimaa region of Finland, situated on the southern coast about east of the city border of Helsinki and about from the city centre. Porvoo was one of the six medieval to ...

and Paraske traveled to the city with him to complete their project. During the years from 1891 to 1894, she gave several performances in Porvoo and Helsinki, becoming very popular. Her Kalevala-themed '' rune singing'' influenced several prominent artists.

' '' Kullervo, Op. 7'' has been said to contain elements of Paraske's hypnotic, incantatory singing style.

Albert Edelfelt Albert Gustaf Aristides Edelfelt (21 July 1854 – 18 August 1905) was a Finnish-Swedish painter noted for his naturalistic style and Realist approach to art. He lived in the Grand Duchy of Finland and made Finnish culture visible abroad, befor ...

and Eero Järnefelt painted portraits of Paraske in 1893. Paraske returned to Vaskela, Sakkola in 1894. Despite her success, she remained poor. Her house was sold during the summer of 1899 due to tax arrears, and she had to move into her neighbour's sauna. The Finnish Literature Society granted Paraske an artist's pension in 1901, but she was unable to overcome her financial problems. She died destitute in Sakkola in 1904.

Legacy

In 1936, sculptor Alpo Sailo created a statue of Paraske. It was planned for the Kalevala building, which, however, was never realized, so the statue was erected in 1949 in the Hakasalmi park, off of Mannerheimintie, in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

. A street named after Paraske is located in Kaarela, a district of Helsinki. In 2004, Paraske placed 87th on '' Suuret suomalaiset'', a vote arranged by YLE, the Finnish Broadcasting Company, to determine the "100 Greatest Finns". Paraske is also one of the people on the stamps of Finland.

References

External links

Kotikielen Seura: ''The metrics of Larin Paraske's epic folk poetry in the Kalevala metre

Larin Paraske at National Biography of Finland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Larin Paraske 1833 births 1904 deaths People from Vsevolozhsky District People from Sankt-Peterburgsky Uyezd Izhorian people Finnish women poets Oral poets 19th-century Finnish poets 19th-century Finnish women writers 19th-century Finnish writers Karelian-Finnish folklore