Soviet Karelia Collection

Collection description

Soviet Karelia Collection contains books and magazines published in Finnish and Russian and Finnic languages in the area of the Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic between 1920 and 1977.

Soviet Karelia Collection has almost 3,900 publications. The largest group in the collection is literature in Finnish, the publication of which was started by population moving or escaping to the Soviet Union in 1920s and 1930s. Later, the importance of Karelian authors increased. Most publications are from the 1930s. Publication of literature in Finnish began in the early-1920s and it was at its busiest in the 1930s.

At first, the books were printed and published in St. Petersbrug (Leningrad) but as early as the 1920s, Petroskoi became the centre of publication activities in Finnish. After the Second World War, the amount of literature started decreasing and in the 1990s fairly little literature in Finnish was published in the Karelian Republic.

The largest group in literature in Finnish (2,500 titles) is formed by original and translated fiction, followed by literature on social themes followed, communist party publications and other official publications. The largest group is literature intended for practical needs of life (agriculture, technology, health care, school text books, etc.) Newspapers, periodicals and literary albums were also published in the Soviet Karelia.

Literature in Finnish, published by Finns or on Finland published in the Soviet Union and Russia after 1977 is placed among other literature in the National Collection.