Hanna Lukkari

Antero Leitzinger´s dissertation reveals that immigration is a typically Finnish phenomenon

If the nation´s memory isn´t constantly refreshed by scientific and artistic means, we easily forget that a number of seemingly recent phenomena have a centuries-old historical background. This is what has happened with immigration.

Many Finns of the older generation remember immigrants from their childhood neighbourhood in Vyborg or Terijoki, from their school days or the army, but after these immigrants became Finnish, it is difficult to consider them similar to more recent arrivals, Antero Leitzinger states. He defended his doctoral dissertation on the history of Finnish immigration policy in June.

Muslims immediately bring news pictures of the Middle East to one´s mind, but less frequently those of Pikku Pietarin piha which describes how the inhabitants of Kuopio got to know an Islamic Tartar family in the 1920s.

– Neither politicians nor civil servants should go further and fare worse because our domestic history entails plenty of examples of immigration, Leitzinger points out.

Breaths of fresh air from the outside world

– Nearly everything that differentiates us from Eastern Karelia and Länsipohja can be attributed to immigration, Antero Leitzinger believes. Kemi isn´t Kiruna or Kontupohja because it was built by Norwegian sawmill workers and later by refugees from Viena Karelia.

In the countryside, immigration has been less visible, but in the cities of Kotka, Turku, Uusikaupunki and Lappeenranta, even a small number of immigrants have brought breaths of fresh air from the outside world. The street scenes of Helsinki are teeming with such names originating further than in Savolax as Stockmann, Fazer, Sinebrychoff, Starckjohann, Ali, Hackman...

– It´s more difficult to recognise immigration behind the Finnicized names of Jaari, the owner family of Pukeva, or Siimes, the name of the Polish grandfather of Pentti Siimes, the master comedian.

Maintaining a businesslike, low-key policy

The Finnish authorities have been successful in managing a constantly changing immigration policy, Antero Leitzinger praises. Even before Finland became independent, it provided asylum for a number of Russian, Estonian and Russian-Jewish people.

– Even in the troubled arena of post-war politics, Finland took care of its refugee policy in a businesslike, if low-key, way.

Leitzinger thinks that maintaining good administration has also contributed to the fact that a number of problems, caused by foreigners, have been reasonably well monitored and at least the second generation immigrants have integrated into society and become model citizens.

– Definitely, there are some negative phenomena which raise questions of whether we never learn while other questions turn out to be unnecessary. Finland let beggars from Eastern Europe come into the country in the 19^th century and bank robbers from the Baltic area 100 years ago. On the other hand, we can no longer understand why people were concerned about Italian organ grinders and German mechanics in the 1920s.

Exercising sound judgement is everybody´s advantage

Mr Leitzinger attributes a considerable decrease in manifestations of xenophobia to the monitoring of immigration.

– Alien residents in Finland benefit from the sound judgement by authorities as well as our national selfishness, although they may occasionally find it annoying. There is still room for hundreds of thousands of immigrants in Finland on the condition that we proceed in a sensible way.

Antero Leitzinger regards Finnish slowness as an asset. Once a foreigner has worked his way through hard work and honesty, he gradually becomes one of us.

– There´s no more doubt that Viktor Klimenko wouldn´t have been a good enough representative of Finland (in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1965). Some day we might have a skier with a Somali background to return our country´s reputation in sports.

Leitzinger himself belongs to an immigrant family. His forefather was a Swiss stonecutter who emigrated to Finland 190 years ago and started to make cheese. Leitzinger´s mother also moved to Finland from Switzerland after her love. He is married to his Tartar wife and calculates that 78 per cent of their sons´ blood is non-Finnish, but deep in their souls they are totally Finnish Muslims.