In 1913 Sillanpää moved from Helsinki to his old home village and devoted himself to writing.[4] In 1914 Sillanpää wrote articles for the newspaper Uusi Suometar.[2] In 1916 Sillanpää married Sigrid Maria Salomäki, whom he had met in 1914.[2]
By principle, Sillanpää was against all forms of violence and believed in scientific optimism.[5] In his work he portrayed rural people as living united with the land.[2]
The novel Hurskas kurjuus (Meek Heritage) (1919) depicted the reasons for Finnish Civil War, and despite its objectivity,[weasel words] was controversial at the time.[6]
Sillanpää won international fame[citation needed] for his novel Nuorena nukkunut (translated to English as The Maid Silja) in 1931.
In 1939, Sillanpää was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature "for his deep understanding of his country's peasantry and the exquisite art with which he has portrayed their way of life and their relationship with Nature."[7] A few days after he received the prize, talks between Finland and Soviet Union broke down and the Winter War began.[3][8]Sillanpää traveled to Stockholm to receive the Nobel Prize[3] and donated the golden medal to be melted for funds to aid the war effort.[8]
Before the Winter War, Sillanpää wrote the lyrics for Sillanpään marssilaulu to lift his spirits when his eldest son Esko was partaking in military practices at Karelian Isthmus.[9]
In 1939, Sillanpää's wife Sigrid died of pneumonia leaving him with eight children.[3] Some time after, Sillanpää married his secretary Anna von Hertzen (1900–1983).[3]
In 1941 Sillanpää divorced his wife Anna. His alcoholism and other ailments needed hospital treatment. In 1943 he returned to public life as a bearded old 'Grandpa Sillanpää'. His radio appearances, especially his tradition of speaking on Christmas Eve from 1945 to 1963 attracted listeners.[10]
The asteroid 1446 Sillanpää, discovered on January 26, 1938 by Finnish astronomer and physicist Yrjö Väisälä, was named after him.
