Finnish-American singer and songwriter, who was born in Kangasniemi and emigrated to the US in 1909 following the death of his mother. He moved to Michigan's Upper Peninsula, where he made his living as a tailor. He was an advocate of syndicalism and joined the trade union "Industrial Workers of the World". His depiction of Finnish immigrant life was very popular and an interesting feature of his writing was the use of "Finglish" making his lyrics difficult to understand outside of a Finnish-American or Finnish-Canadian setting. He is sometimes referred to as the Finnish Woody Guthrie.
