Pekkanen - Toivo Rikhart Pekkanen

Finland's first proletarian writer. After graduating from primary school and vocational school, he became a blacksmith at the age of 13. His most famous work is In the Shadow of the Factory (1932), which captures the growth of young urban workers from a biological and sociological perspective. It is an autobiographical work that rejects dogmatism and focuses on the progress of humanity and society, and has been translated into seven languages, including English, German, and French. His trilogy, The Mill of God (1946), explores the history of changes in the Finnish people's mentality between 1860 and 1940, but was left unfinished. He became an academician in 1955, and died in Copenhagen in 1957. His other works include Black Madness (1939).

[Shizuo Takahashi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

フィンランド初のプロレタリア作家。小学・職業学校卒業後13歳で鍛冶(かじ)工。若い都市労働者の成長を生物・社会学視点からとらえた『工場の陰で』（1932）が代表作。教条主義を排し人間・社会の進歩をテーマとする自伝風作品で、英独仏など七か国語に翻訳された。三部作『神の臼(うす)』（1946）は1860～1940年間のフィンランド人の精神変遷史を追求したが未完に終わった。1955年アカデミー会員、57年コペンハーゲンにて客死。ほかに『黒い狂気』（1939）など。

［高橋静男］

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