On the Rocky Roads of History
I’m a Finnish historian, born in 1970 and raised in Kitee, a small town near the Russian border. I worked as a researcher and teacher at the University of Jyväskylä in Central Finland for most of the period between 1996 and 2017 (as well as 2020–2022). I have been appointed docent ("adjunct professor") twice: at the University of Jyväskylä in 2005 and at the University of Eastern Finland (Joensuu) in 2008. I have been an invited member of the Finnish Historical Society since 2005.
I have published five books. My dissertation, Verenperijät (Recovering Blood: Violence and Community in the Age of Transition, 2002), analyzed violent crime in Early Modern Finland. After completing my PhD, I continued by studying post-war Finnish university students in Akateemisia kansalaisia ja maakunnan toivoja (Academic Citizens and Hopes of the Province, 2005). In 2017, I published Kivikkopellon poika (Son of the Rocky Fields), a biography of Erkki Laatikainen (1946–2013), a high-profile newspaper editor and controversial Finnish journalist. Tiikeri 94 (Tiger 94, 2020) is a biography of Artturi Nyyssönen (1892–1973), a Jyväskylä-based medical doctor who made a notable career as a military physician during the war years (1939–1944). My latest work, Kuningas Auto (King Automobile, 2024), examines how the private car and traffic policy became political issues in Finland during the post-war decades (1945–1980).
These books—like most of my articles—are published in Finnish, but some of my work is also available in English (and one piece even in German!). I welcome all inquiries, particularly those related to the research interests mentioned above.
Contact:
Rethinking Social Mobility : The Social Background and Career of Students from the "Vyborg Nation", 1833-1899. In: Ulla Aatsinki, Johanna Annola ja Mervi Kaarninen (eds.), Families, Values, and the Transfer of Knowledge in Northern Societies, 1500-2000. 171 – 184. Routledge Studies in Cultural History (2019).
https://jyx.jyu.fi/jyx/Record/jyx_123456789_63783
Matikainen, Olli, Judges, Law-Readers and Malpractice (1560-1680). In: Karonen, Petri, Hakanen, Marko (eds.), Personal Agency at the Swedish Age of Greatness 1560-1720. Helsinki: SKS 2017.
https://jyx.jyu.fi/jyx/Record/jyx_123456789_56422
The Violent Finn: Cultural Images and New Research Directions. Revue d'histoire Nordique vol 21 (2017),
https://shs.cairn.info/journal-d-histoire-nordique-2015-2-page-159?lang=en
Matikainen, Olli & Lidman, Satu, Histories of Social Control. In: Matikainen, Olli & Lidman, Satu (eds.), Morality, Crime and Social Control in Europe 1500 - 1900. Studia Historica 84. SKS 2014.
Matikainen, Olli, Kulturgeschichte des Unabhängigen Finnland. Teoksessa Halmesvirta, Anssi (toim.) Land unter dem Nordlicht: Eine Kulturgeschichte Finnlands. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 2013, s. 162 - 224.
Matikainen, Olli, "Academic Citizen" and Transition of Society in Finland 1945 - 1970. Student Corporation Karjalainen Osakunta as a Case Study. Ennen ja nyt 2005: 2.
https://journal.fi/ennenjanyt/article/view/108282/63304
Matikainen, Olli, Verenperijät. Väkivalta ja yhteisön murros itäisessä Suomessa 1500–1600-luvulla. Bibliotheca Historica 78. Helsinki 2002. Summary: Recovering blood : Violence and Community in the Age of Transition : the Case of Eastern Finland from the Middle Ages until 1700. Reviews: Juhan Kreem (Scandinavian Economic History Review 2003: 2); Anthony Upton (The Slavonic and East European Review 2004: 1). Verenperijät : väkivalta ja yhteisön murros itäisessä Suomessa 1500-1600 -luvulla | Jyväskylän yliopisto - Jykdok | JYKDOK