Finnish settlement in Argentina founded by Finns fleeing Tsarist tyranny
Descendants of founders of Colonia Finlandesa celebrate centenary
By Johanna Pohjola in Bonpland, Argentina
Next to the municipality of Bonpland in the north of Argentina runs an old, winding road of red soil, which is covered with wild vegetation in parts. It is bordered by a thick jungle, in whose midst a few wooden buildings stand that are about to fall apart. When travelling along the road, one might not guess right away that it was carved out of the jungle by Finns a century ago. At that time, a Finnish settlement, Colonia Finlandesa, was thriving there.
Hanna Niskanen, 86, was born in the colony. She remembers the times very well, when the place was full of life, and the community hall was the bustling centre of social activities. All that remains of the hall, and other buildings of the settlement, are a few ruins covered by forest.
"My fondest memories are linked with the colony. We bathed there in the flowing river. We always had fun. Once a month there was a dance at the community hall, which was full of people", recalls Niskanen in fluent Finnish. She lived in the community for until 1941. She has never managed to visit Finland.
Colonia Finlandesa was established by 112 Finnish settlers who sailed to Argentina in 1906. They were mainly Swedish-speaking city-dwellers, who fled the Russian oppression and were looking for a better Finland. The idea of setting up a colony came from a scientist, Arthur Thesleff, who had visited the area in the previous year.
However, life in the middle of a tropical jungle turned out to be difficult. Most of the settlers were of academic backgrounds, and were not familiar with the use of farm implements.
Many succumbed to contagious diseases, insects, and cheap cane sugar alcohol. A large number returned to Finland, or moved to cities in Argentina, or to Brazil, where another Finnish colony had been set up.
Colonia Finlandesa got more Finnish immigrants in the early decades of the 20th century. After the Second World War it began its final decline, when young people followed others elsewhere, and there were no new immigrants.
Nowadays the descendants of the immigrants live in different parts of the country. Nearly 100 Finnish citizens live in the province of Misiones, and at least as many second-generation immigrants. There is no comprehensive information about the third and fourth-generation immigrants. A total of about 400 Finnish citizens live in Argentina.
In Oberá, Alicia Vuori, 67, the daughter of Finnish immigrants, speaks a little Finnish. Her speech is somewhat broken, but all the more enthusiastic. When she switches over to the "national language", Spanish, her sentences are loaded with Finnish words: mökki (cabin), äiti (mother), isä (father) sauna, sisu, mustikka (blueberry), and metsä (forest). Like Niskanen, Vuori has never been to Finland, but she feels that she is half-Finnish.
"Mother and father taught us Spanish and spoke it at home all the time so that we children would not be bullied for speaking Finnish at school. However, I don't know what would happen if the football teams of Argentina and Finland were to play against each other. It is hard to say which one I would support", Vuori laughs.
Anthropologist Marjatta Nieminen, who has done research on the Finnish immigrants in Argentina, says that the other side of the coin is that immigrants often do not feel that they are really part of either culture. Many of the descendants of Finnish immigrants feel like Finns when they are in their own country, and like Argentines when they are in Finland.
"It is the lament of immigration, which gets more emphasis with some, and less with others. In a way, an immigrant to the Americas is happy only when he or she is flying across the Atlantic, between both countries", Nieminen says.
According to the researcher, many immigrants build themselves a mythical idealised Finland in their minds, where everyone has everything, and all is well. This is partly the result of Argentina's economic crisis, and is emphasised among those immigrants who have never had a chance to visit Finland.
The 100th anniversary of the establishment of Finnish immigration into Argentina was celebrated at the beginning of the month in the city of Oberá. According to Hugo Sand, the honorary consul of Finland responsible for the preparations, the purpose of the event was both to record history, and to strengthen contacts between the countries. Sand's great grandfather Johan Carl Sand moved to Colonia Finlandesa among the first Finns to do so in 1906. The consul himself has also never visited Finland.
"I am nevertheless proud that my great grandfather was a Finn. It feels wonderful, because Finland has the reputation for being uncorrupted, and technically advanced. I hope that the year of celebration would not be a mere milestone, but that it would also mark the beginning of a new age and more extensive cultural exchange", said Sand, an agricultural engineer, who was named honorary consul in 1999.
For Alicia Vuori, the immigration celebration meant the strengthening of her roots. She gained strength from Finns who came all the way from Finland to take part in the event.
"I think that it is wonderful to talk about the home country of my parents, because then they are close to me. It feels as if I were there myself coming on a ship with my mother and father to Argentina", Vuori says, enthusiastically.
Hanna Niskanen, one of the oldest living descendants of the original settlers, took part in the event so that she might speak Finnish after a long gap.
"I like to speak Finnish and, while I am alone, to sing old Finnish songs that my mother sang. I would like to visit the house of my parents again, but there is nothing left of it. It feels bad to see everything that was once so flourishing and beautiful in such decay", she laments.
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 18.4.2006
More on this subject:
 BACKGROUND: 100th anniversary of a Finnish settlement
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 25.4.2006 - THIS WEEK |
Finnish settlement in Argentina founded by Finns fleeing Tsarist tyranny
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