Algot Untola

Algot Untola (28 November 1868, Tohmajärvi – 21 May 1918, Helsinki) was a Finnish writer and journalist.

Untola was born to the Tietäväinen family and his real name was Algoth, but he changed the name to Algot Untola. Untola had many pen names including Maiju Lassila, Irmari Rantamala, Algoth Tietäväinen, Väinö Stenberg, J.I. Vatanen, Liisan-Antti and Jussi Porilainen. Untola's profession was teacher. He graduated in 1891 from Sortavala. Untola's most famous books were Harhama (1909) which he wrote under the name Irmari Rantamala, and Tulitikkuja lainaamassa (1910) under the name Maiju Lassila. Untola refused to take the state literature prize which he got from these books.

Untola first supported the Finnish Party but he didn't agree with their views and he changed his party to Social Democratic Party of Finland. During the Finnish Civil War in 1918 he actively supported the rebel ("red") side as a newspaper editor. He was arrested by government ("white") troops after the battle of Helsinki and shot dead on 21 May 1918 while attempting to escape during a transport of rebel prisoners to the Suomenlinna prison camp.

External links

• Works by Maiju Lassila at Project Gutenberg (Finnish)
• Works by or about Maiju Lassila in libraries (WorldCat catalog)

Persondata
Name	Untola, Algot
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	28 November 1868
Place of birth
Date of death	21 May 1918
Place of death