Eino Leino Day is celebrated annually in Finland in early July as a holiday of poetry and summer. It is dedicated to the famous native of the country, who was born in 1878. Poet, writer and publicist Eino Leino had a tremendous influence on the development of literature and the Finnish language.
There are few people in Finland who do not know who Eino Leino is. Alexander Pushkin enjoys about the same popularity among Russian people. Every Finn knows at least one poem by Leino. This poet did a lot for his native language and literature, he discovered lyricism in them, which until then was difficult to imagine.
In addition to his undoubted poetic gift, Eino Leino had a talent for prose and journalism, wrote articles for many magazines, and was an editor. In addition, he knew foreign languages and easily translated works of Italian, Swedish and German writers into Finnish. He easily succeeded in various forms of versification, from sonnets to ballads.
July 6 is the day Eino Leino was born in 1878. And every year on this date, the Finns pay tribute to the memory of the great poet. He raised his native language to a new level. Considered primitive, Finnish was called the language of commoners, which is simply unable to convey all shades of feelings. And this despite the fact that already in 1863 Finnish was recognized as official. Thanks to Leino, the attitude towards him changed.
July 6 is not a day off in Finland, but Eino Leino Day is an official holiday. Since the poet was born in a warm season, the Finns call this day a holiday of summer and poetry. In the morning, blue and white national flags appear over many administrative buildings, offices and houses of ordinary people. Finns remember the great compatriot, read his poems, lines from
which have already become proverbs.
It is curious that the academic world of colleagues and critics did not and does not treat Eino Leino as warmly as ordinary people. For this reason, little has been written about him, the real life of the poet has overgrown with legends and has gone far from reality. Therefore, it is not surprising that a novel about him, entitled "The Master" by author Hannu Mäkelä, sold out in a multi-million print run in a matter of days. Although it saw the light 70 years after Leino's death, in 1995. In addition, his biography is still popular in the writing of Leino's last beloved writer L. Onerva. However, this book of the 1930s can hardly be considered a complete biography of the poet.
