Anni Swan Anni Swan was the daughter of a teacher, one of the “nine black swans”, the nickname for the girls in the Swan family. She passed her matriculation examination in 1895 and received her certificate as a trainee teacher from Jyväskylä Teacher Seminary in 1900. Anni Swan worked as a teacher in Helsinki. She made study trips to Berlin, Italy and Greece. In 1907 Anni Swan married the poet Otto Manninen. Anni Swan was one of the first novelists for children and young people to write in Finnish. Before her marriage she wrote fairy tales. She published several story-books and a few children’s plays. Anni Swan was the editor-in-chief of the magazine “Pääskynen” from 1907 to 1918. She also edited the seasonal magazine “Joulukukka” and the magazine “Nuorten Toveri”, later named “Sirkka” After she was married Anni Swan began writing books for young people which were both educational and entertaining. The self-motivated, independent girls in her books were perhaps modeled on her own sisters who stepped outside traditional social roles: they obtained a professional education and only four of them married. Anni Swan also translated or adapted several children’s books and both edited and translated the series “Pääskysen kirjasto” from 1907 to 1916.
Sources:
Jyväskylän seminaari 1863 - 1937, Kotimaisia
nuortenklassikoita 1, ed. Ismo Loivamaa.
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