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Gustaf von Numers (1848-1913) | |
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Finnish playwright, unpractical dreamer, whose best known works were made in cooperation with Kaarlo Bergbom, the central figure of Finnish theatre in the 1880s. Later Numers cut off with Bergbom and wrote his plays for Swedish speaking theatres. Numers's female characters were exceptionally strong. In his comedies, such as Kuopion takana (1891, Behind Kuopio) and Pastori Jussilainen (1895, Pastor Jussilainen), Numers dealt with women's rights and conservative attitudes of the rural Finnish people, especially among the clergy. Numers's romantic-realistic plays gained popularity in the time, when Minna Canth struggled for acceptance to her realistic and naturalistic works. "Me käytämme niitä aseita, mitkä maiselle on annettu. Ne ovat vähän terävämmät kuin miehen raaka voima, josta he aina kerskaavat, ja jonka avulla he ovat vuosituhansia meitä sortaneet." (from Kuopion takana) Gustaf von Numers was born in Maksamaa into a well-to-family aristocratic family. His native language was Swedish, but some of his plays were first performed in Finnish theatres. Numers's father was Lorentz August v. Numers (1818-1968), a practical and energetic person who had increased the family fortune by spirit distilling. Johanna Gustava Malin, the writer's mother, died at the age of 25 in 1849. Lorentz August v. Numers then married her sister, Serafia Lovisa Malin. The old Tottesund manor, where Numers spent his first five years, became later the scene of Anni Swan's classic juvenile novel Tottisalmen perillinen (1914, The heir of Tottesund), about an orphan farm-hand who turns out to be in reality a heir to a large fortune. Numers was first tutored at home. From 1861 he studied in Vaasa and graduated from the secondary school in 1869. During this period he read poetry – Runeberg, Wecksell, Tegnér and others – and wrote for the student magazine. Shakespeare's works he read in Swedish. After his father died, Numers inherited the Åminneborg manor and considerable sum of money, which was meant to finance his further studies. He lived a few years in Helsinki, but attend the university sporadically. In 1871 he travelled in Sweden and Norway, spent his time in theaters, and took a course in agriculture in Mustiala. In 1874 he rented a farm from Ilmajoki, where he lived a carefree life as a gentleman farmer, pursuing unpractical plans, and spending his days dreaming like Oblomov, until he had lost nearly all what was left from his father's inheritance. Numers's marriage with Helena Lovisa Eleonora Roos did not change the situation. In 1883 Numers was offered a job a railway official, but instead of focusing on his work he began to write. It also offered him a way to escape the dull reality and earn extra income to support his large family. Numers worked as a station master from 1888 in the Ostrobothnian countryside. After making patriotic speeches he was forced to resign in 1903 from his office. For a short time he worked for a timber firm. Between the years 1905 and 1907 he was a canal chief in Heinävesi, and then a station master in Kannus. With the help of Kaarlo Bergbom, Numers's first produced drama, Eerikki Puke, was performed at the Finnish Theatre in 1888. However, von Numers wrote the work in Swedish, but the Swedish theatre rejected his early plays. This drama was set in the 15th century. Its central character is Kreeta, a kind of Finnish Joan of Arc. Her idealism encourages the hesitating governor of the castle Korsholm, Eerikki Puke, to pretend to the crown of Sweden. The play was performed seven times and received good reviews. It was followed by Tuukkalan tappelu (1889, The battle at Tuukkala), based on archeological findings in Tuukkala village. The story dealt with a feud between the people of Tavastland (Häme) and Karelia. In 1890 Numers visited in Kuopio the playwright Minna Canth, the first notable Finnish social realist, whose radical opinions were constantly attacked by conservative and religious authorities. On his journey in eastern Finland, Numers also met in Lappeenranta C.G. Swan, the editor of Lappeenrannan Uutiset and father of the future writer Anni Swan. Numers's major work and theatrical breakthrough is Elinan surma (1891, Elina's death), performed both in Swedish and Finnish in 1891. It was based on a well-known medieval ballad from Kanteletar, Elias Lönnrot's collection of lyrical and lyrical-epic folk poems. Lönnrot had copied the original story from a manuscript while a student at Laukko. In the play the gentle Elina marries Klaus Kurki, a recently widowed nobleman. His jealous mistress Kirsi convinces him, that his new wife is unfaithful, and Kurki kills her. Klaus becomes mad and Kirsi repents bitterly. The great Ida Aalberg played the role of Kirsi and Axel Ahlberg was Klaus Kurki. Its has been said, that both Numers's and Bergbom, who helped him to write his Finnish works, could be called the authors of this play. At one scene Klaus confesses his sins to a smirking Roman Catholic priest. Numers's attack on the Catholic Church was not uncommon, also Topelius portrayed a villainous Jesuit in Talvi-iltain tarinoita. After Elinan surma von Numers's cooperation with Bergbom ended because of financial disagreement. The playwright also refused to accept Bergbom's creative contribution in finishing his play. "Mitä sitten tulee meidän yksityiseen asiaamme, myönnän minä kernaasti, avoimesti ja kaikkien kuullen, etteivät minun näytelmäni koskaan ilman sinun apuasi, tai kenties oikeammin kritiikkiäsi, olisi saaneet sitä menestystä mikä niillä on ollut, mutta yhtä oikeutettua yhteistyötä (ett lika berättigat samarbete) ja siitä johtuvaa oikeutta minun kanssani yhdessä määrätä niiden painattamisesta ja esittämisestä muissa teattereissa – sitä en minä myönnä sinulle koskaan." Von Numers continued with comedies. In Kuopion takana the ultraconservative minister Elias Jussilainen is cleverly duped by a young woman, Lilli, who is an advocate of women's rights. "Tärkeintä kaikesta on, ettet koskaan unohda naisellista arvoasi. Sinun tulee muistaa, Naemi, ettemme me ole mitään itämaisia odaliskeja emmekä keskiajan nunnia, vaan pystypäitä nykyajan naisia, jotka vastaamme omasta itsestämme. Paina mieleesi nämä kaksi asiaa: naisella on arvonsa ja naisella on elämäntehtävänsä!" (from Kuopion takana) Numers possibly wrote the play as an answer to Minna Canth's accusations that he showed an "excessive interest in young girls." The sequel, Pastori Jussilainen, was not translated into Finnish until 1923. In the story the reactionary Jussilainen adopts some modern ideas. The first film version of the play, entitled När svärmor regerar, was made by Swedish director Mauritz Stiller, who acted in the title role. Matti Kassila's film adaptation from 1955, starring Edvin Laine, was partly shot at the National Theatre. Gustaf von Numers died on February 6, 1913 in Kannus. For a long time he had planned to write a romantic opera Hvita frun från Tottesund (the white lady of Tottesund), which would fuse together his happy childhood memories and later experiences, but he never realized the idea. For further reading: 'Bortglömda teaterstycken av Gustaf v. Numers' by B. Estlander, in Historisk Tidskfrft för Finland (1921); Gustav von Numers by V. Tarkiainen (1922); A History of Finnish Literature by Jaakko Ahokas (1973); McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of World Drama, vol. 3, ed. by Stanley Hochman (1983); Suomen kansallisfilmografia 5, ed. by Kari Uusitalo (1989); A History of Finland's Literature, ed. by George C. Schoolfield (1998) Selected works:
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