Elmer Diktonius
Elmer Rafael Diktonius (20 January 1896 – 23 September 1961) was a Finnish poet and composer, who wrote in both Swedish and in Finnish. He was born in Helsinki and studied at the Helsinki Music Institute. He undertook several study trips abroad, including to France and England in 1921–22, Paris in 1925–27, and Prague in 1934.
Also recorded as Elmer Rafael Diktonius
Elmer Diktonius
Källan 1/2008 · Public domain
- Born
- 1896. · Helsinki.
- Died
- 1961. · Helsinki.
- Nationality
- Finland and Grand Duchy of Finland.
- Occupation
- poet, composer, translator and writer.
- Fields
- modernism, essay and poetry.
- Teachers
- Erkki Melartin and Otto Wille Kuusinen.
- Honours
- Karl Emil Tollander Prize, Samfundet De Nio's Grand Prize and Swedish Academy translation prize.
- Languages
- Finnish and Swedish.
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Documentary summary
Elmer Rafael Diktonius (20 January 1896 – 23 September 1961) was a Finnish poet and composer, who wrote in both Swedish and in Finnish. He was born in Helsinki and studied at the Helsinki Music Institute. He undertook several study trips abroad, including to France and England in 1921–22, Paris in 1925–27, and Prague in 1934.
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Authority files
wikidata · Q969743 · wikipedia · Elmer Diktonius
In this article
Private life
Private life
In 1922, he established an avant-garde magazine, Ultra, which had Finnish and Swedish editions. He was also involved in the establishment of another avant-garde magazine Quosego. In addition to his editorial work, he was a literary and music critic for numerous publications, including Arbetarbladet, Elanto, Suomen Sosialidemokraatti, Nya Argus, and the Malmö-based Arbetet. He was a board member of the Society of Swedish Authors in Finland from 1927, and served as its vice-chairman between 1937 and 1944. He mainly lived in Tuomistonoja of the Röykkä village. Diktonius died in Kauniainen, and is buried in the Hietaniemi Cemetery in Helsinki.
Training under Erkki Melartin and Otto Wille Kuusinen is recorded. The recorded working language is Finnish and Swedish. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are modernism, essay and poetry. Places of work recorded in the authority are Helsinki and Nurmijärvi. Distinctions recorded are Karl Emil Tollander Prize, Samfundet De Nio's Grand Prize and Swedish Academy translation prize.
Dikotnius was the son of August Viktor Diktonius and Adelaide Maria Rosalie Malmström. He was married twice; first to Meri Rigmor Marttinen from 1923 until their divorce in 1926, and second to Anna-Leena Jäykkä from 1929.
Original works
Original works
Source: Min dikt (poems, 1921) Hårda sånger (poems, 1922) Brödet och elden (1923) Taggiga lågor (poems, 1924) Onnela (prose, 1925) Stenkol (poems, 1927) Ingenting och andra novellistiska skisser (prose fiction, 1928) Stark men mörk (poems, 1930) Janne Kubik (novel, 1932) Opus 12. Musik (essays, 1933) Mull och moln (prose and poetry, 1934) Medborgare i republiken Finland (short stories, 1935) Gräs och granit (selected poems, 1936) Jordisk ömhet (poems, 1938) Medborgare. Andra samlingen (short stories, 1940) Varsel (poems, 1942) Höstlig bastu (prose, 1943) Hård början (poems, 1946) Annorlunda (poems, 1948) Novembervår (poems, 1951) Dikter 1912—1942 (collected poems, 1955) Prosa 1925—1943 (collected prose, 1955) Meningar (aphorisms and essays, 1957) Agneta Rahikainen; Marit Lindqvist; Maria Antas (2000). Gudsöga, djävulstagg: Diktoniusstudier / utgivna av Agneta Rahikainen, Marit Lindqvist och Maria Antas. Skrifter / utgivna av Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland, 0039-6842; 619 (in Swedish). Helsinki: Society of Swedish Literature in Finland. ISBN 951-583-051-6. ISSN 0039-6842. Wikidata.
Translations by Diktonius
Translations by Diktonius
Ungt hav (poetry in translation, 1923) Lyriskt urval by Eino Leino (1931) Dikter i urval by Carl Sandburg (with Artur Lundkvist and Erik Blomberg, 1934) Karu nuoruus (Swedish: Stark barndom) by Jan Fridegård (into Finnish, 1943) Sju bröder (Finnish: Seitsemän veljestä) by Aleksis Kivi (1948)
As editor
As editor
Finland berättar. Trettio noveller (with Lauri Viljanen, 1943)
Helena Södergran, Elmer Diktonius och Gunnar Ekelöf. Edith Södergrans samling
Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland
Diktonius vid kaffebordet i Raivola. Edith Södergrans samling
Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1961
Elmer Diktonius died at Helsinki.
Awards and honors
Source: Lybeck Prize (1929, 1933) State Prize for Literature (1930, 1938, 1942, 1943) Swedish Literature Society in Finland Prize (1939, 1956) Tollander Prize (1943) Honorary member of the Swedish Literature Society in Finland (1956)
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Writers in Finland 1917-1944
- 2.Rodopi. A Cultural History of the Avant-Garde in the Nordic Countries 1900-1925. 28. 448. 2012. 9789401208918.
- 3.Fredrik Hertzberg. A Cultural History of the Avant-Garde in the Nordic Countries 1925-1950. Brill Rodopi. 36. 196–207. 2019. 9789004388291.
- 4.Elmer (Rafael) Diktonius (1896-1961) – Author's Calendar
- 5.Runoilija ja säveltäjä Elmer Diktonius (1896-1961) (in Finnish)
- 6.Helsingin seurakuntayhtymä. Hietaniemen hautausmaa – merkittäviä vainajia.
References
Citations
References
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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