Каари Утрио: Жизнь и творчество финского историка и писателя

Finnish author

Kaari Marjatta Utrio (born 28 July 1942, official surname Utrio Linnilä, formerly Virkajärvi) is a Finnish writer. She has written over 35 historical novels and 13 non fiction books on historical topics. She is a historian, holding the degree of Master of Arts from the University of Helsinki, and has retired from the position of Professor in service of the Finnish State Commission of Fine Arts.

Kaari Utrio was born in Helsinki to a middle class family. Her father was fi, who after the Winter War worked as CEO of Tammi, a Finnish publishing company. Her mother Meri Marjatta Utrio (née Vitikainen) was an editor, journalist and a translator of works into Finnish. There were over four thousand books in Utrio's childhood home in Tapiola, Espoo, and literature was valued in her family. Utrio became acquainted with literature as a child, when her mother read her classics of world literature, such as Kipling and Shakespeare as bed time stories. At the age of seven, the first book Utrio read by herself was a thick volume of Jokamiehen maailmanhistoria (World History for the Everyman). At school Utrio did well, especially in composition writing, even though she did not have any plans to become a writer at the time. Instead she wanted to become a historian. Carl Grimberg's Kansojen historia (History of Peoples) offered a lively description of history to the young Utrio. Her efforts to secure the election of a female President for the Republic of Finland had been remarkable: after making volunteer work in 1994 campaign for Elisabeth Rehn (who almost won, i. e. lost the 1994 presidential election by small margin), in 1999 professor Utrio joined the campaign for Tarja Halonen, serving in 1999–2000 and anew in 2005–2006 as Chairperson of the non party committed Political Action Citizenry Delegation (PAC) for Tarja Halonen's success (Halonen got elected in 2000 and again on 2006). Utrio was appointed an artistic professor for the years 1995 to 2000, in recognition of her work. Utrio has been an academic in the Väinö Tannerin säätiö since 2000. She was awarded the Tiedonjulkistamisen valtionpalkinto in 2002 for her life's work, and the Pro Finlandia medal in 1993. Utrio also hardly ever uses the present tense in her narratives. Utrio's non fiction works focus on the history of women and children, whose lives otherwise remain often hidden because of lack of historical sources, and usually are not discussed in historical narratives. Eevan tyttäret (The Daughters of Eve) is one of Utrio's most notable non fiction books. The book describes the history of women from the ancient Middle East and ancient Greece until modern times. The book has achieved international notice, and has been translated into seven languages. Her career as a widely published author lasted approximately fifty years. She started in 1967 working her first novel (that came out in 1968). Utrio strived to publish a new novel each year. In 2019 Utrio announced that her working days are over. Her 2017 book remains her last publication. Ever since her first novel that came out in 1968, she has been one of Finland's most read authors and published quite regularly. It has been argued on the Kirjasampo website (the representative of public libraries in Finland), that she has been the single most influential author to have shaped Finnish women's thinking. Her 1968 novel reached already in its first year tens of thousands of readers. Hundreds of thousands of Finnish women have, since 1968, read and been influenced by Utrio's views inherent in her books, such as need for equality between genders, existence of female strength, practical family values, and non religiosity, as well as fact based comprehension of circumstances, mentalities and conditions of human life in a selection of past centuries, usually in agrarian economy.