The novel “De levande” by the Finnish woman Iida Turpeinen about the Steller’s sea cow

During Vitus Bering’s final expedition in the Bering Sea in 1741, the German naturalist and explorer Georg Wilhelm Steller discovered a sea-dwelling species previously unknown to humans. The mammal was called Steller’s manatee. It was an impressive animal that could be up to 8 meters long and weigh around 10 tons.

Just 27 years later, in 1768, the species was declared extinct. This was because they were easy to hunt and provided plenty of meat and blubber. Something that was of course very popular among sailors.

– At that time there was no idea that a species could become extinct. People of that time believed that nature would always be plentiful, says Finnish writer Iida Turpeinen.

She figured it out herself Steller’s manatee during a visit to the Central Museum of Natural History in Helsinki in 2016. She was a new graduate student and harbored a dream of writing a dissertation on biodiversity and species extinction. But the topic had no real impact, so she went to an art exhibit at the museum as a distraction. Suddenly she found herself in front of a huge skeleton.

– It was big and unwieldy and I was completely immersed in it. Then I read on the sign that the animal had become extinct 27 years after its discovery and that there were only a few complete skeletons left in the world.

As she left the museum, thoughts ran through her mind. How could a species become extinct in such a short time? And why was there a skeleton here in Helsinki?

– I went straight to the National Library and started reading everything I could find about Steller’s manatee. Then I knew I wanted to write about it.

But that wasn’t it perspective on the thesis she had found. In order to report on Steller’s manatee, both people and nature had to be portrayed. It had to be a story about voyages of discovery and the irony that a scientific discovery can lead to the extinction of the subject of the research. She just had to write a novel. It took seven years.

– Almost all the characters in my book are based on historical figures. I also tried to represent the sea expeditions of the 18th century as faithfully as possible, which is why a lot of research was carried out.

Nor was she content with “just” telling about Vitus Bering’s expedition in 1741, even if that alone could have provided material for an entire novel. The crew was shipwrecked on the island where Steller discovered the manatee and had to live off nature’s bounty for six months before building a new boat to take them home across the sea.

Instead, “The Living” is tense. over nearly 300 years and represents both the Bering expedition and the later humans who somehow came into contact with the sea cone, in the form of the skeleton that can now be viewed at the Central Museum of Natural History. The mermaid is the common thread, but perhaps not its main character?

– It occurs in all parts of the novel, but for me the novel is perhaps more about…

Species extinction?

– Yes, and it is a topic that has interested me since I was a child and accompanied my mother to work in a nature reserve in the Finnish archipelago. As you probably know, the Baltic Sea is one of the most polluted seas in the world and made a big impression on me even as a child.

She had long dreamed of becoming a marine biologist. But the love of literature took over. Today she is a doctoral student and is writing a dissertation examining how scientific thinking is integrated into fiction novels. This also applies to “The Living” to a large extent.

– I love scientific history, especially older ones. If you read scientific texts from the 17th and 18th centuries, they are very close to fictional stories. They are extremely resourceful.

“The Living” has one rich personal gallery. But one person shines brighter than the others: artist Hilda Olson. When I say that, Iida Turpeinen beams and stretches her arms in the air.

– Yes! It’s probably safe to say that I fell in love with all of my characters when I wrote the book, but there was something special about Hilda.

The real Hilda Olson was the daughter of a talented fisherman who studied art in Helsinki in the late 1850s. There she was discovered by naturalist Professor Alex von Nordmann, who took her on a study trip to southern Russia and Crimea to draw spiders and other animals of scientific interest. In 1861, Olson was commissioned by the professor to draw the skeleton of Steller’s sea cow. The very skeleton that Iida Turpeinen viewed in the museum about 150 years later.

– She was enormously talented and unusual. At that time, women were not allowed to pursue science. She was only able to pursue this because Alex von Nordmann was a progressive professor.

This Hilda Olson plays a prominent role in the novel isn’t all that strange. When Iida Turpeinen began writing The Living, she set herself a goal: half of the characters in the novel should be women.

– I have read so many novels with a focus on the history of science and it always bothered me that there are hardly any women in them. So I decided to find women to talk about. If you know what to look for in an archive, you will find it. Suddenly it was swarming with women, says Iida Turpeinen and laughs.

Hilda Olson’s brilliant career as a scientific illustrator ended with the death of Professor von Nordmann. Her illustrations were cataloged under the professor’s name and forgotten. But with “De levande” Hilda Olson’s name and illustrations have now been rediscovered. Both the National Gallery and the Central Museum of Natural History in Helsinki have exhibited her work.

– I am very proud to have contributed to her receiving the recognition she deserves as an artist now, almost 200 years later. All the experts I spoke to agree that these are world-class scientific drawings and illustrations. Additionally, she has been revealed to be the first female scientific illustrator we know of in the Nordic countries.

The reception of “The Living” was extremely positive. It is considered Finland’s best debut novel of all time. Now the translation rights have been sold to 28 countries and Iida Turpeinen herself has become one Guest author in the Central Museum of Natural History.

– They offered me a place to write and full access to the archives. It’s amazing!

When we speak to her via video link, she is taking a break from the archive, where she is currently researching the next science fiction novel. Because there will still be someone like that, she says. After that, she will try to finish her thesis.

Then she gets serious and says that there is one thing that the novel contributed to that she feels sorry for: all the visitors who want to come and see Steller’s manatee.

– Many couldn’t hold back. They wanted to feel the skeleton and I can kind of understand them. There’s something about the tactile. But at the same time, the skeleton is very fragile and it would have broken if all the museum visitors had picked at it.

The museum was forced Place glass panels around the skeleton for protection. On a smaller scale, it can be seen as a sort of parallel to Steller’s discovery of a species that then goes extinct. When I say this, Iida Turpeinen messes up a little and says she doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry:

– It is absurd that a book that I wrote as a kind of warning about how we humans have corrupted nature ends up endangering one of the last remains of this animal. “We don’t seem to learn from history,” she says with a sigh.

– Even when we humans act out of tenderness, we risk endangering something else. It’s fascinating as a phenomenon, but also quite dark.

While she spends her days in the museum, she accidentally returns to Steller’s manatee. But no longer just to look at the impressive skeleton behind the glass panes.

– It’s the best place for me to eavesdrop on people who have read my novel. I do it sometimes just for fun when I’m taking a break from working on the other book.