Hilja Onerva Lehtinen was a variously talented individual whose interest extended beyond literature to visual arts, music and theatre. She wrote poems, prose and drama under the professional name L.Onerva. She also wrote reviews on arts, literature and theatre for newspapers and translated French poetry into Finnish.
Lehtinen’s writerly talent was evident even in her schooldays, and she was encouraged in her efforts by her circle of friends writing prose and poetry. Her writer’s name was a suggestion made by a friend. Her first poems appeared in 1900.
At the Imperial Alexander University Lehtinen initially studied medicine, but her studies shifted to aesthetics and French. However she never did graduate, her writing sweeping all before her.
In the first decade of the twentieth century L. Onerva published three collections of poetry as well as a novel Mirdja (1908). In her writing she brought out her rebellious nature and took a stand against the conventional morality of the time. L.Onerva’s later works dealt with the conflict between freedom and commitment in the life of a woman.
Lehtinen spent several periods of her life abroad. She was particularly drawn to the French language and culture. And her cultural pastimes were reflected in her choice of partners. Her first husband was a forester who painted, and the second was a composer and conductor. Lehtinen is said to have various other male friends. The best known of these cherished and important friends was probably Eino Leino.
The early years of L. Onerva’s career as a poet are said to show Eino Leino’s influence and the later verse, for their part, influences of the Tulenkantajat, or ‘Torchbearers’, a grouping of writers including figures like Mika Waltari. In her later poetry, nature emerged as a dominant theme. Of L.Onerva’s works, the best known is her life of Eino Leino, which was published six years after the celebrated poet’s death (Eino Leino: runoilija ja ihminen, ‘Eino Leino. Poet and person’, 1932). For her literary output, L.Onerva received the State Prize for literature on no fewer than seven occasions. Furthermore, she was awarded the honorary award by the Aleksis Kivi fund.
During her second marriage to Leevi Madetoja, both husband and wife succumbed to the demon drink. Lehtinen suffered from poor mental health and in the end was committed to institutional care. A dramatic turn came in the marriage when Madetoja abandoned his wife to the auspices of a mental hospital. After Madetoja’s death, Lehtinen, with the help of friends, was able to return home. During the years spent in institutions she painted water colours and produced sketches in addition to a number of poetry drafts. In the last years of her life she wrote poetry. Hilja Onerva Lehtinen died shortly before her ninetieth birthday on March 1, 1972. In her household effects literarily a hundred thousand poems have been uncovered, a mere fraction of them published.
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Translated by John Calton
