Major Simon Affleck (ca. 1660 – 1725) was a Swedish

tax official A tax collector (also called a taxman) is a person who collects unpaid taxes from other people or corporations. The term could also be applied to those who audit tax returns. Tax collectors are often portrayed as being evil, and in the modern wo ...

, of Scottish descent, who worked in then Swedish-ruled

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bo ...

. He had been appointed by the

King of Sweden The monarchy of Sweden is the monarchical head of state of Sweden,See the #IOG, Instrument of Government, Chapter 1, Article 5. which is a constitutional monarchy, constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system.Parliamentary ...

to collect taxes in the

Pielisjärvi Pielisjärvi is a former municipality in the region of North Karelia in Finland. The municipality had inhabitants in 1970. Pielisjärvi was a Finnish-speaking municipality. Pielisjärvi municipality was joined with the city of Lieksa in ...

region, and also paid the rent of his mansion in Pielisjärvi to the King. His probable grandfather Hillebrand or Gilbert Affleck was born in Scotland and was a burgess in

Turku Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...

and inspector of gunpowder factories. Affleck is said to have been a ruthless collector of taxes with little pity towards the poor Finnish

peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasan ...

s. This, and the large and ferocious

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relativ ...

he kept as a pet, earned him the nickname Simo Hurtta (hurtta is Finnish for

hound A hound is a type of hunting dog used by hunters to track or chase prey. Description Hounds can be contrasted with gun dogs that assist hunters by identifying prey and/or recovering shot quarry. The hound breeds were the first hunting dogs. ...

). Affleck died in 1725 after the Greater Wrath. He is said to have shot himself in the head in his mansion to deny the Finnish peasants raiding his mansion the satisfaction of killing him.

References

* Onni Palaste: The Simo Hurtta trilogy: ** ''Simo Hurtta'', 1978 ** ''Simo Hurtta ja Anna'', 1982 ** ''Simo Hurtta ja Isoviha'', 1983

External links

Book about the Affleck family in Finland
by Maija Salo 1660s births 1725 deaths Finnish people of Scottish descent Swedish people of Scottish descent Swedish civil servants Tax collectors Suicides by firearm in Finland {{gov-bio-stub