米卡·瓦尔塔里

米卡·托伊米·瓦尔塔里（芬兰语：Mika Toimi Waltari，1908年9月19日—1979年8月26日），芬兰著名历史小说家。最有名的作品是《埃及人西努赫》。

作品

小说

A Stranger Came to the Farm (Vieras mies tuli taloon, 1937)

The Egyptian (Sinuhe, egyptiläinen, 1945, abridged translation)

The Adventurer (Mikael Karvajalka, 1948)

A Nail Merchant Nightfall (Neljä päivänlaskua, 1949)

The Wanderer (Mikael Hakim, 1949)

The Dark Angel (Johannes Angelos, 1952)

The Etruscan (Turms kuolematon, 1955)

The Secret of the Kingdom (Valtakunnan salaisuus, 1959)

The Roman (Ihmiskunnan viholliset, 1964)

中篇小说

Moonscape (Kuun maisema, 1953)

The Tree of Dreams (Koiranheisipuu, 1961)

Mika Toimi Waltari (pronounced [ˈmikɑ ˈʋɑltɑri] ; 19 September 1908 – 26 August 1979) was a Finnish writer, best known for his best-selling novel The Egyptian (Finnish: Sinuhe egyptiläinen). He was extremely productive; Besides his novels he also wrote poetry, short stories, crime novels, plays, essays, travel stories, film scripts, and rhymed texts for comic strips by Asmo Alho.

Biography

Early life

Waltari was born in Helsinki on 19 September 1908. His parents were Toimi Waltari and Olga Johansson; Toimi was a Lutheran pastor once, teaching religion in Porvoo, and Olga one of his pupils. A scandal caused by their relationship had forced them to move to Tampere and the two married on 18 November 1906. At the age of five, Mika Waltari suddenly lost his father to illness on 5 July 1914, and the 25-year old Olga Waltari was left, with crucial help from Toimi's brother Toivo, to support her three children: Samuli (7 years), Mika (5 years) and Erkki (6 months). As a boy, Waltari witnessed the Finnish Civil War, during which his White-sided family fled to the home of his mother's aunt at Laukkoski in Pornainen, near Porvoo, which was relatively peaceful and where the Whites were predominant.

Later he enrolled in the University of Helsinki as a theology student, according to his uncle Toivo's wishes, but soon abandoned theology in favour of philosophy, aesthetics and literature, graduating in 1929. While studying, he contributed to various magazines and wrote poetry and stories, getting his first book Jumalaa paossa published in 1925. It was a success, selling 3000 copies despite being only 72 pages long. In 1927, he went to Paris where he wrote his first major novel Suuri illusioni ('The Grand Illusion'), a story of bohemian life. In terms of style, the novel is considered to be the Finnish equivalent to the works of the American writers of the Lost Generation. (In Waltari's historical novel The Adventurer, taking place in the 16th century, the protagonist is a Finn who goes to study in Paris at much the same age that the author went to the same city in the 20th century). Suuri illusioni was a surprise hit, selling 8000 copies and turning Mika Waltari into a famous author. Waltari also was, for a while, a member of the liberal literary movement Tulenkantajat, though his political and social views later turned conservative. He was married on 8 March 1931 to Marjatta Luukkonen, whom he had met during military service the preceding year, and on 4 January 1932 they had a daughter, Satu. Satu also became a writer.

Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Waltari worked as a journalist and critic, writing for a number of newspapers and magazines and travelling widely in Europe. He published articles in the official magazine of the Association of Finnish Culture and Identity, Suomalainen Suomi ('Finnish Finland'), which was later renamed as Kanava. He directed the magazine Suomen Kuvalehti. At the same time, he kept writing books in many genres, moving easily from one literary field to another. He had a very busy schedule and strict work ethic. He also suffered from manic-depressive psychosis and became depressed after completion of a book, sometimes to the extent of needing hospital treatment; in his manic phases he did his writing. He participated, and often succeeded, in literary competitions to prove the quality of his work to critics. One of these competitions gave rise to one of his most popular characters, Inspector Palmu, a gruff detective of the Helsinki police department, who starred in three mystery novels, all of which were filmed (a fourth film was made without Waltari involved). Waltari also scripted the popular cartoon Kieku ja Kaiku and wrote Aiotko kirjailijaksi, a guidebook for aspiring writers that influenced many younger writers such as Kalle Päätalo.