Aku Päiviö

Aukusti "Aku" Päiviö (2 April 1879 – 13 May 1967) was a Finnish Canadian journalist, poet and socialist. With Sanna Kannasto and A.T. Hill, he was one of the key figures in the Finnish Canadian socialist movement of the early 1900s. Päiviö was a Marxist who saw education as the most important part of the class struggle.

Biography

Päiviö was born in the municipality of Kärsämäki, Finland, in the Northern Ostrobothnia region. He emigrated to the United States in 1902 at the age of 23. Päiviö worked as the editor of Finnish American newspapers Amerikan Uutiset (The American News), Päivän Uutiset (The Daily News) and Kansan Lehti (The People's Newspaper), published in Calumet and Ironwood, Michigan.

In June 1905 Päiviö began as the editor of Raivaaja (The Pioneer), the Eastern newspaper of the Finnish Socialist Federation located in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. He would remain in the position until the spring of 1906, after which he would remain on the staff as an Associate Editor until December 1909. As Jules volunteered the war, Aku wrote his best-known poem, To My Son in Spain, dedicated to his son. Päiviö's son, Allan Paivio, was an emeritus professor of psychology at the University of Western Ontario. He was best known for his dual-coding theory. and Allan (Raikas) Paivio, and daughters Terry (Terttu Paivio) Hart (1908–1995) and Tilhi (Paivio) Simmons (1914–1992).