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National Geographic : 1968 May
Contents
They've Got Sisu FINNS "act as if they have always been free," reports one observer. They have a word for it, sisu, which translates as a mixture of courage, perseverance, and stamina-with a touch of stubbornness. Here is a nation that has maintained its identity through six and a half centuries of Swedish domination and a century under the Russian tsars, that suffered staggering losses in World War II and paid huge reparations. Yet Finland, free only since 1917, hums with prosperity and enjoys one of the world's highest living standards. Finnish faces generally are broader than those of Scandinavian neighbors. Silver pig ment freckles the bronzed features of painter Eino Mattila at the Wartsilii shipyards in Tur ku. Bemedaled fiddler Oiva Finer tunes up for a summer folk-dance festival. Hair aswirl, Elina Ylivakeri models a fashion from Finn Flare, a Helsinki house that specializes in rain bow-hued mix-and-match ensembles. Square face and ruddy complexion mark a Lapp woman of Lisma, a village in northern Fin land. She hurries from storage shed to house with bread, flour, and mushrooms. 591
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