About
Mother, wife and artist
Artist biography and career
Kaija Tellervo Tanskanen (née Piipponen), 1926–2012 (age 85), was a logonomist, speech specialist and music teacher with a master's degree, as well as a writer of poems and stories. Children's use of the voice was a subject close to her heart, and she wrote her first textbook about it, Lasten laulukoulu, published by Fazer in 1963. Kaija was also interested in mental health work and, in the 2000s, received the Finnish Association for Mental Health's gold medal of merit for her work in support of mental health.
Her mother was Iida Piipponen, and her father was Matti Piipponen. Kaija was the youngest of the family's four children. After her father became ill and died, her mother, Iida, worked as the librarian at Kiihtelysvaara Library. The family also lived in the library building. Kaija's love of literature and poetry, as well as her appreciation for libraries, began during these years.
Her basic education consisted of the elementary schools in her home villages and Joensuu Girls' School. To attend the latter, she had to live closer to the city, mostly with relatives.
During the wars, she served as a Little Lotta in various roles, ultimately performing Lotta duties in an anti-aircraft battalion.
After the war, Kaija moved to Lahti to study at the Viipuri Music Institute from 1944 to 1946. She then moved to Helsinki to work and study. Kaija graduated as a music teacher from the Sibelius Academy in 1950.
Kaija married in 1950. Her husband, Pertti Tanskanen, was born in 1924. Their children, Varpu, Vesa, Paula and Mervi, were born between 1950 and 1958.
While raising her children, she studied to become a logonomist at Suomen Puheopisto and graduated in 1958.
While living and studying in Helsinki and the surrounding metropolitan area, she worked for organizations including Yleisradio as a sound technician and speech specialist, and as a music teacher at various schools.
The family moved to Lappeenranta in 1960 for Pertti's teaching job.
In Lappeenranta, Kaija worked as a private teacher of piano and voice, as a music teacher in schools and as a substitute teacher for several other subjects.
She had taken up literary and performing arts at an early age. In the 1960s and 1970s, she gave several poetry recitals; during the 1970s, her programs featured her own work.
During her years in Lappeenranta, she wrote a music textbook and a book of poetry, as well as various works in the fields of ethics and worldviews, often incorporating poetry.
After retiring for health reasons, Kaija moved permanently in 1974 to the family's vacation home in Kaarnala, Sipoo, where she had spent many summers while living in Helsinki and Lappeenranta.
Later in life, she completed the final grades of the secondary-school education she had left unfinished at Käpylä Evening School and passed the matriculation examination. Kaija earned her Master of Music degree from the Sibelius Academy in 1996.
Kaija lived in Sipoo until her death. In winter, she often lived in central Helsinki because it made daily life and getting around easier. Most of her poetry collections were written during the years she lived in Sipoo.
She spent her final years at the Linda assisted-living facility in Söderkulla, Sipoo. Kaija was gifted in many ways and put her abilities to use in newspaper columns and through active participation in a variety of recreational activities. Until the end of her life, she took joy in meeting close family members, relatives and friends and hearing their news.
Highlights from the timeline
Milestones
March 24, 1926 Kaija was born in her grandparents' house in Heinävaara, Kiihtelysvaara
1927 The family moved to its own home on the Kansanaho farm in the village of Selkie, Kontiolahti
1931 The home was lost at a foreclosure auction, her father was hospitalized and the family moved to her grandmother's home
1932 Lived with relatives
1933 Began elementary school
1934 The family moved to the library building in the church village
1935 Her father died
1936 Completed four years of elementary school
1937 Began secondary school in Joensuu
1939 The Winter War
June 25, 1941 The Continuation War began
1942 Attended secondary school and performed Lotta duties with a signals company during the summer
1943 Completed five years of secondary school and performed Lotta duties with an air-surveillance company during the summer.
1944 Left upper secondary school after one year in the spring because of a lack of funds
September 19, 1944 The Continuation War ended
1944–46 Studied at the Viipuri Music Institute in Lahti
1945 Spent the latter part of the year at Kontioniemi Tuberculosis Sanatorium
1946–1950 Attended the school music teacher training program at the Sibelius Academy (SA) in Helsinki
1948–1952 Worked for Yleisradio
1949 Started a family
1950–1959 Held positions as a music teacher
1952–1958 Trained and graduated as a logonomist
1958 Birth of the youngest child
1960 Moved to Lappeenranta
1960–1962 Ran a music kindergarten
1960 First poetry recital, featuring works by Aale Tynni, in Lappeenranta
1962 Performed the same program at Teatteri Jurkka
1962–1974 Worked as a music teacher
1963 Poetry recital featuring works by Aale Tynni and Eino Leino in Lappeenranta
1964 Repeat performances of the preceding programs in Joensuu and Kouvola
1964 First edition of Laulukoulu
1966 Aaro Hellaakoski program in Lappeenranta, with repeat performances in Joensuu, Kouvola and elsewhere
1969 Aale Tynni program in Lappeenranta
1970–1972 Ateistin sanoitus, writing
1971 Went on temporary medical retirement
1972 Ateistin sanoitus in the Chamber Music Hall at Finlandia Hall
1972 Study trip to Bulgaria
1973 Returned to work
1974 Settled permanently in Spjutsund, Sipoo
1975 Retired on a disability pension
1976–1978 Attended a writing course at Paukkulan opisto in Mikkeli
1977 Jumala, runoja valosta in the Chamber Music Hall at Finlandia Hall
1978 Semanttinen todistus Jumalan olemassaolosta in the Chamber Music Hall at Finlandia Hall
1978 Neitseellinen syntymä in the Chamber Music Hall at Finlandia Hall
1979 Tietämättömyyden tuskasta pois in the Chamber Music Hall at Finlandia Hall
1980 Jeesus Kristus on suomeksi Aurinko in the Chamber Music Hall at Finlandia Hall
1983–1986 Edited Kaarlo Marjanen's book
1987 Graduated from Käpylä Evening School
1989 Synonyymiteoria in the Chamber Music Hall at Finlandia Hall
1992 Candidate of Music degree from the Sibelius Academy (SA)
1992 Article for the publication Pappilan mäeltä salokyliin, Kiihtelysvaaralukemisto 3
1996 Awarded the title of Master of Music
1997 Columns for Mielenterveys magazine
June 28, 1997 First presentation at Kiihtelysvaara Library: Kirjastonhoitaja Iida Piipponen syntyi sata vuotta sitten (30.9.1897), Kiihtelysvaaran Heinävaaralla Ala-Piippolassa. Cassette and slides.
1998 Kiihtelysvaarasta Iida Lampisen kansanlauluja, arranged by Pentti Paalanen
1999 Moved to the Linda assisted-living facility in Söderkulla, Sipoo
1999–2000 Columns for Sipoon Sanomat
March 25, 2000 Tanskanen matinee presented by Sipoo Upper Secondary School at Kiasma in Helsinki
December 2, 2000 Kaija Tanskanen matinee, Synonyymiteoria, in the Chamber Music Hall at Finlandia Hall
2001 A celebration marking Kaija Tanskanen's 40 years as a poetry reciter. A program of her own texts.
2002 Her husband died
2003 Articles for the publication Entiset mänimet, Heinävaaran kyläkirja
2000s Video recording of an interview with Kaija Tanskanen and poems read by Kaija herself, Timo Munther
January 15, 2012 Kaija died in Söderkulla, Sipoo, at age 85
Publication catalog
Works and publications
- Laulukoulu, textbook, 1963.
- Ateistin sanoitus, poems, 1973.
- Jumala, poems, 1975.
- Neitseellinen syntymä, poems, 1978.
- Semanttinen todistus Jumalan olemassaolosta, texts, 1978.
- Mini-lapsen laulukoulu, textbook, 1979.
- Tietämättömyyden tuskasta pois, poems, 1979.
- Ainikki Voipion tie Vassar Collegesta Taipalsaarelle, book, 1983.
- Runoja Sipoosta Dikter om Sibbo I, 1992. ISBN 951-96669-0-7
- Synonyymiteoria Synonymteorin, texts, 1992.
- Runoja Sipoosta Dikter om Sibbo II, 1996. ISBN 951-96669-2-3
- Runoja Sipoosta Dikter om Sibbo III, 1998. ISBN 951-96669-6-6
- Runoja Sipoosta IV, 1999. ISBN 951-98318-2-7
- Dikter från Sibbo IV, 1999.
- Runoja Sipoosta V, 2000. ISBN 951-98318-0-0
- Dikter från Sibbo V, 2003. ISBN 951-98318-4-3
- Runoja Sipoosta VI, 2003. ISBN 951-98318-1-9
- Dikter från Sibbo VI, 2003.
- Järkytyksiä, autobiography covering 1926–2004, 2004.
- Runoja Sipoosta VII, 2004. ISBN 951-98318-5-1
- Runoja Sipoosta VIII, 2005. ISBN 951-98318-7-8
- Runoja Sipoosta IX, 2005. ISBN 951-98318-9-4
- Runoja Sipoosta X, 2006. ISBN 952-99639-0-4
- Runoja Sipoosta XI, 2007. ISBN 978-952-99639-2-8
- Muistiinpanoja Aurinkojumalasta, 2nd ed., Palladium Kirjat, texts, 2008.
- Valittuja runoja vuosilta 1970–2008, 2009.