Minna Canth (1844-1897, née Johnson) was a notable Finnish realist and naturalist writer of the 1880s and 1890s. She is also one of the first authors writing in Finnish, while in the literature of Finland the language before her days was mainly Swedish. Canth had many roles in the literary field of her own time.
She had close contacts with the contemporary Finnish and Swedish theatre which opens up interesting perspectives for her career as a playwright. Canth’s own life stages led her to observe life and its phenomena from a female perspective founded in realism and social criticism. She published ten plays, seven novellas, short stories, and newspaper articles and speeches. She handled her shop’s business correspondence. Canth became a reformer of our literature and a trailblazer of Finnish realism. She participated boldly in social debates, both as an author and as a newspaperwoman. With her language skills and intellectual curiosity, she was an intermediary for new European ideas and an important influencer of opinion in the Finland of her time.
Canth was the first Finnish-language newspaperwoman. She wrote more than eighty articles, speeches, and presentations published in various newspapers, magazines, and albums. Canth’s newspaper writings are sharp and opinionated.
In them she touched on temperance, the woman question, religious freedom, the status of the Finnish language, socialism, and gender morality. She was just as passionate about grain tariffs as she was about women’s education, when she felt that she had something to say about a topic. Canth used the pseudonyms Wilja, Teppo, Airut, X, Syrjäinen (Secluded), Syrjäinen nainen eikä herra (Secluded woman and no mister), and M. C. She also wrote anonymously, especially while living in Jyväskylä, but also published articles under her full name.
