Jalmari Sauli


Jalmari Verneri Sauli was a Finnish writer and track and field athlete who competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics.

Athletics

Olympics

Sauli entered five events at the 1908 Olympics.

National

Sauli became the first Finn to exceed 14 metres in shot put, when he put 14.06 metres on 5 September 1908.
YearEventRankResultReferences
1911Two-handed shot put4th22.14 m
1911Two-handed discus throw4th67.95 m

White Guard

Sauli joined the Mänttä White Guard as it was taking form in November 1917 and became its chief of logistics. He was wounded in the Finnish Civil War. He was the local chief of Mänttä White Guard in 1919–1921, and a member of staff of North Tavastia White Guard District in 1920.

Writer

Sauli began professional writing as a newspaper reporter in the 1910s. He was the editor-in-chief of the newspaper Hämeen Sanomat, White Guard paper Varsinais-Suomen vartio and regional paper Järviseutu.
For Sauli, an impetus to start writing novels was a months-long recovery period after being wounded in the Finnish Civil War. The resulting book Valkoinen varjo drew from his experiences in the war, and is credited as the first Finnish adventure novel. The book was handed out as an award by the White Guard. Sauli's patriotic views became the base for his literary career.
Sauli mostly wrote novels for young adults, in the genres of historical and wilderness adventure. He also wrote novels for adults, plays and children's books. His books have been reprinted the last time in the 1980s.
Sauli won the Finnish State Prize for Literature in 1928 for Himmeli and in 1937 for Vanha savenvalaja.

Family

Father was industrialist Carl Otto Saxelin and mother Saida Maria Blåfield.
Brother Jonni Sauli was a professor of agriculture at the University of Helsinki. Brother Into Saxelin was a sculptor.
Jalmari, Saida and Jonni finnicized their family name from Saxelin to Sauli on 6 April 1908.
His first marriage was to Lyyli Allas in 1909–1929 and second to Kaarina Helena Pirjola from 1931.
Son Jaakko Sauli won two Finnish national championship golds and one silver in relay races in 1935–1937. He was a company commander in the Bicycle Battalion 5 during the Winter War, when a close-range machine gun burst from a tank wounded him lethally.