Vivica Bandler

Vivica Bandler

Vivica Bandler, 1997
Born Vivica von Frenckell
(1917-02-05)5 February 1917
Helsinki, Finland
Died 30 June 2004(2004-06-30) (aged 87)
Helsinki, Finland
Spouse(s) Kurt Bandler

Vivica Bandler (5 February 1917 – 30 July 2004) was a Finnish theater director and agronomist.[1] She founded a theater in Helsinki and is credited for popularizing avant-garde Finnish theater.

Early life and education

Vivica von Frenckell was born in Helsinki, Finland, in 1917. She was the daughter of Helsinki Mayor Erik von Frenckell and theater historian Ester-Margaret Lindberg.[2] She studied agronomy, graduating in 1943. She then maintained her family home, Saari Manor, a historic home located in Tammela, Finland.[3] She served in the Lotta Svärd during World War II and eventually married Austrian Kurt Bandler.

In 1946, she became involved in a love affair with Finnish writer Tove Jansson, which is documented by a series of letters they exchanged in subsequent years. Jansson incorporated the pair of them into her Moomin series as Thingumy and Bob (Bob, whose original name is Vifslan, being based on Vivica). Bandler eventually decided to stay with her husband, but the two women maintained a life-long friendship. Bandler adapted two of Jansson's Moomin stories for theater. In cooperation with her husband, she translated the first three Moomin books into German.[4]

Theater work

After the war she started working in an amateur theater in Tammela.[2] She studied, in Paris, France in the 1930s, under a French movie director. Upon her return to Helsinki she sought to become a film director, but because of her gender, the opportunity was lacking. She went on to get her degree in agriculture, instead.[3]

In 1939, she founded Helsinki's first Swedish student theater, Studentteaternin. Bandler also served as director of the theater. When visiting film directors came to film in Finland she often served as translator, such as Jacques Feyder.[2] In 1969, she was awarded the Order of the Lion of Finland.

Legacy

Film director Tuija-Maija Niskanen made the film Jäähyväiset (Avskedet) based on Bandler's life.

References

  1. ↑ Moring, Cherry. "Vivica Bandler". Hok Elannon Hautauspalvelu. Retrieved 20 September 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 Belinka, Karmela (1998). Vivica Bandler and clowns laugh. Juva: Wiley. pp. 31–40. ISBN 951-0-22607-6.
  3. 1 2 Robert Aldrich (5 December 2000). Who's Who in Contemporary Gay and Lesbian History: From World War II to the Present Day. Taylor & Francis. pp. 28–29. ISBN 978-0-415-22974-6. Retrieved 20 September 2012.
  4. ↑ Tuula Karjalainen: Tove Jansson. Work and Love. Particular Books, London 2014.

Further reading

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