Edith Södergran
| Edith Södergran | |
|---|---|
Edith Södergran in 1918
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| Born |
4 April 1892 St. Petersburg |
| Died | 24 June 1923 (aged 31) Raivola |
| Language | Swedish |
| Nationality | Finnish |
| Education | Petrischule; Saint Peter's School |
| Genre | Poetry |
| Literary movement | Symbolist poetry; futurism |
Edith Irene Södergran (4 April 1892 – 24 June 1923) was a Swedish-speaking Finnish poet. One of the first modernists within Swedish-language literature, her influences came from French Symbolism, German expressionism, and Russian futurism. At the age of 24 she released her first collection of poetry entitled Dikter ("Poems"). Södergran died at the age of 31, having contracted tuberculosis as a teenager. She did not live to experience the world-wide appreciation of her poetry, which has influenced many lyrical poets. Södergran is considered to have been one of the greatest modern Swedish-language poets, and her work continues to influence Swedish-language poetry and musical lyrics, for example, in the works of Mare Kandre, Gunnar Harding, Eva Runefelt and Eva Dahlgren.
Edith Irene Södergran was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, into a middle-class Finnish-Swedish family. Her parents, Mats Södergran and Helena, née Holmroos, were both born in Finland and belonged to the Finnish-Swedish minority, with Swedish as their native language. Edith grew up as an only child. Her mother had earlier become pregnant by a Russian soldier and given birth to an illegitimate son, but the child died after only two days. Her father had been a widower after the death of his wife and two small children. The sorrow united her parents, who were also both considered less suitable in marriage due to their past.
Edith's mother came from a well-positioned family, and the status of women within the family is thought to have been strong. It is apparent that Edith and her mother shared a strong bond. Considerably less is known about her relationship to her father, who died when Edith was only 15.
When Edith was just a few months old, the Södergrans moved to the village of Raivola on the Karelian Isthmus where her grandfather, Gabriel Holmroos, bought a house for them. A short time afterward, Mats acquired a job as a superintendent at a sawmill. Three years later, the company went into bankruptcy, and the family struggled to make ends meet. Helena's father died a few months later, and the inheritance was shared between her and her mother. With the money from the inheritance, Helena was able to pay the family's debts and get them back on their feet. The rest of the money disappeared quickly, however, due to Mats' unsuccessful businesses. Helena managed to arrange for the family to receive a part of the proceeds from her mother's share of the inheritance, making the family debt-free once more.
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