F. E. Sillanpää (1888−1964), a master author, won the Nobel Prize for Literature for 1939. In the reasons for the Award, the writer was praised for his deep understanding of his country’s peasantry and the exquisite art with which he portrayed their way of life and their relationship with nature. The master writer was popularly known as “Taata”, the unofficial grandfather to the country. From recollections of his childhood Christmases emerged a well-loved tradition: Grandpa gathered the whole nation devoutly around their radios with his easy-going Christmas “talks”. Sillanpää is best remembered for his works The Maid Silja/Fallen Asleep While Young (1931) and Meek Heritage (1919).