Departures of note

Matti Kurikka, a Finnish journalist and utopian socialist, is best remembered for founding Sointula, a cooperative island colony on Malcolm Island, British Columbia, in 1901. The colony, based on cooperative principles, dissolved as a utopian venture in 1905 due to financial difficulties and a devastating fire, though it continued as a fishing and logging community. Kurikka had previously attempted to establish utopian communities in Chillagoe, Queensland, Australia, and elsewhere in Canada before Sointula.

Born on January 24, 1863, in Maloye Karlino, Saint Petersburg Governorate, Kurikka edited the newspaper Työmies from 1897 to 1899. In 1900, he moved to North America and founded Aika, the first Finnish-Canadian newspaper. In 1908, he purchased Wiipurin Sanomat, where his editorial stance shifted from the Young Finns' political movement toward Christian socialism.

Kurikka died on October 4, 1915, in Westerly, Rhode Island. Shortly before his death, he delivered the eulogy at the funeral of Finnish revolutionary Johan Kock.