Mika Waltari
Mika Waltari (1908–1979) was a Finnish novelist, playwright, and journalist. His historical novel The Egyptian brought him international recognition.
The Egyptian: A 1945 historical novel by Mika Waltari, narrated by an Egyptian physician during the reign of Akhenaten. Waltari’s best-known work follows an ancient narrator through political upheaval and personal ruin.
Helsinki: The capital of Finland, on the country’s southern coast. Waltari was born and spent much of his life in Helsinki, which also features in his crime fiction.
Sinuhe the Egyptian (film): A 1954 Hollywood epic film adapted from Mika Waltari’s novel The Egyptian. The film brought Waltari’s story to a broad audience, though it substantially changed the novel.
Historical novel: A novel whose setting and events belong to a period before the author’s lifetime. Waltari’s signature international works belong to this form.
The Adventurer: A 1948 historical novel by Mika Waltari, following a Finnish man across sixteenth-century Europe. This novel extends Waltari’s historical fiction from ancient Egypt to Reformation-era Europe.
Finnish literature: Literature written in Finnish, Swedish, or other languages in Finland. Waltari became one of the most widely translated Finnish-language novelists.
Naomi Walford: An American translator known for her English translations of Finnish literature, including Mika Waltari’s The Egyptian. Her translation helped introduce Waltari’s best-known novel to English-language readers.
I, Claudius: A 1934 historical novel by Robert Graves, narrated by the Roman emperor Claudius. Graves’s first-person ancient narrator offers a close parallel to Waltari’s Sinuhe.
The Wanderer: A 1949 historical novel by Mika Waltari about a Finn’s travels in the Byzantine world of the fifteenth century. Its Constantinople setting continues Waltari’s sequence of historical novels about Finns abroad.
Finnish Civil War: The 1918 conflict between socialist Reds and conservative Whites after Finland declared independence. Waltari was a child during the war, a formative rupture in the young nation around him.