Juha Sihvola

Juha Sihvola (29 August 1957 in Sippola – 14 June 2012 in Helsinki) was a Finnish philosopher and historian. He was a University professor of general history from 2000, and part of The Academy of Finland's Centre of Excellence program upon Philosophical Psychology, Morality and Politics, serving as the Deputy Director of the Centre of Excellence from 2008. In the years 2004–2009, he was the Director of Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies.

Academic career

Sihvola defended his filosofian tohtori (Doctor of Philosophy) at the University of Helsinki on ancient Greek ethics and cultural philosophy, a work entitled, Decay, Progress, the Good Life? Hesiod and Protagoras on the Development of Culture. His supervisors were Simo Knuuttila, Holger Thesleff, Matti Viikari and Päivi Setälä. Sihvola worked as an Academy of Finland research assistant (1983–1988), junior researcher (1988–1994), and senior researcher (1995–2000). He also conducted research in Italy and the USA, where he was a visiting researcher at Brown University(1991–1992), as well as being a junior researcher at the Center for Hellenic Studies in Washington DC (1994–1995). Sihvola taught at the University of Jyväskylä and, amongst other things, at the University of Helsinki's history, philosophy and systematic theology departments.

Juha

Juha is a 1999 Finnish film written and directed by Aki Kaurismäki. The film is loosely based on a famous 1911 novel by the Finnish author Juhani Aho marking this as the fourth time the novel was adapted for the screen. The original story takes place in the 18th century but Kaurismäki's remake is set in the 1970s. It tells the story of a love triangle where a simple peasant woman leaves her husband after falling in love with a modern city slicker. Juha is a silent film shot in black-and-white with the dialogue coming in the form of intertitles.

Plot

Marja (Kati Outinen) is a simple peasant woman married to her older husband Juha (Sakari Kuosmanen). They lead a very simple country life, spending most of their days farming and tending to their livestock. Marja's world is turned upside down when Shemeikka (André Wilms) comes to the happily married couple asking them for help with his broken down sports convertible and a place to spend the night. As Juha works to repair the car, Shemeikka attempts to lure Marja to leave Juha and come to the city with him. A hesitant Marja does not want to leave her husband at first but ultimately gives in to temptation after dreaming of a wonderful new life in a big city. Shemeikka and Marja leave for the city but Marja's dream quickly becomes a nightmare when Shemeikka enslaves her in a brothel.

Juha (Merikanto)

Juha is a three-act opera by Aarre Merikanto, with a Finnish libretto by Aino Ackté based on the 1911 novel of the same name by Juhani Aho. Although completed by 1922, it was only finally staged at the music college in Lahti on 28 October 1963. The story is a drama of a love triangle: the older husband Juha, his young wife Marja, and her seducer the merchant Shemeikka. Set in the 1880s in Kainuu in northern Finland, the human tragedy is based around the harsh realities of a farming community and the clash of their lifestyle with the more worldly nomadic Karelians, represented by Shemeikka.

Background

Ackté first offered the libretto to Sibelius, who, after two years, declined to set it, explaining in a letter to Ackté that he believed the text should be subservient to the ‘absolute music’ of the score, and he felt unable to achieve that with what he called Aho’s “masterpiece”.

Juha was Merikanto's second opera, following Helena in 1912. Having composed Juha from 1919 to 1922, Merikanto submitted it to the board of the national opera in Helsinki who were worried by its modernity. As he had no response from them, Merikanto withdrew the work and did not compose any further operas. A ‘safer’ version was written by Leevi Madetoja and premiered at the Finnish National Opera in 1935. The third act of Merikanto's version was broadcast on 3 December 1958, the year before the composer’s death.

Juha (disambiguation)

Juha may refer to:

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People (given name)