Maria Jotuni

Maria Gustaava Jotuni (Haggrén until 1906, Kuopio, died 30 September 1943 in Helsinki) was a Finnish author and a playwright.

Life Jotuni went to an all-girls school in Kuopio. and according to Jukka's son Kari Tarkiainen, her posthumously published novel Huojuva talo ("Tottering House") was based on her marriage to his grandfather; it depicts the husband as nightmarishly abusive.

She started working as a journalist in a student magazine at the University of Helsinki. Maria Haggrén changed her surname to Jotuni in 1906. "Jotuni" means a giant in Scandinavian mythology. She died of heart disease in Helsinki.

In 1961 The Golden Calf, a film based on her play of the same name was released.

Works

Plays:

Vanha koti (1910: "The Old Home") Miehen kylkiluu (1914: "The Man's Rib") Savu-uhri (1915: "Smoke Sacrifice") Kultainen vasikka (1918: "The Golden Calf") Tohvelisankarin rouva (1924: "The Hen-Pecked Husband's Wife") Olen syyllinen (1929: "I am Guilty") Kurdin prinssi (1932: "The Kurd Prince") Klaus, Louhikon herra (1942: "Klaus, Master of Louhikko")

Novels:

Arkielämää (1909: "Ordinary Life") Huojuva talo (1936, published 1963 posthumously. Depicts contemporary literary ideas, realism and Tolstoyism. Adapted for the Finnish stage by Maaria Koskiluoma in 1983; Koskiluoma's stage adaptation was translated into English as Tottering House by Douglas Robinson for the Frank Theatre in Minneapolis in 1994.) Äiti ja poika. Elämän hiljaisina hetkinä (1965: "Mother and Son: In Life's Quiet Moments") Norsunluinen laulu (1947, posthumous: "Ivory Song") Jäähyväiset (1949, posthumous: "Farewell").

Short stories:

Suhteita (1905: "Relationships") Rakkautta (1907: "Love") Kun on tunteet (1913: "Since There Are Feelings") Martinin rikos (1914: "Martin's Crime") Jussi ja Lassi (1921: "Jussi and Lassi") Tyttö ruusutarhassa (1927: "The Girl in the Rose Garden")

Collection of other works:

Kootut teokset I–IV (1930: "Collected Works I-IV") Valitut teokset (1954: "Selected Works") Maria Jotunin aforismit (1959: "MJ's Aphorisms") Novellit ja muuta proosaa I–II (edited by Irmeli Niemi, Otava, 1980: "Short Stories and Other Prose, I-II") Näytelmät (edited by Irmeli Niemi. Otava, 1981: "Plays") Kun on tunteet, Tyttö ruusutarhassa ynnä muita novelleja edited by Irmeli Niemi, SKS, 1999, 262 pages, ("Since There Are Feelings, The Girl in the Rose Garden, and Other Short Stories")