Algoth Niska

Algoth Niska came from an old Swedish-speaking family from Oulu. After the timely death of his father, a sea captain, the family moved from Vyborg (Viipuri) to Helsinki, where he attended a Swedish school. During his school days he was caught stealing and was sent to live with relatives due to misbehaviour.

Niska started playing football in 1904 for Vyborg IFK and transferred to Unitas in Helsinki, where he played 1906-09 winning the first ever Finnish championship in 1908. Later he represented HIFK. With this club he won silver at the Finnish championship in 1912. At the 1912 Olympic Games, Löfgren played as a left winger in all four games for the Finnish team. They defeated Italy (in overtime) and Russia in the first two rounds, but had no chance against England in the semifinal and the Netherlands in the bronze medal match. Niska played a total of six games for Finland’s national team including their first ever match against Sweden in October 1911. In the Olympic bronze medal match less than one year later he won his last cap. At home, however, he returned to the pitch to win another Finnish championship with the club Kiffen in 1916.

Niska graduated as a first officer in Helsinki in 1914 and fought for the Whites in the Civil War. In 1917, he married music teacher Magda Johanna Aufrichtig. They had a daughter but were divorced in 1924. Three years later he remarried Celia Imogene Andersson. In the following year, a son was born. Nevertheless, this marriage also ended in divorce in 1932.

When prohibition was enforced in Finland, Niska smuggled liquor to sell it in Helsinki, first from Estonian and German ships off the Finnish coast, later from Sweden. He was arrested and had to spend time in prison. After he was released and started smuggling again and was wanted in both Sweden and Finland. Subsequently, he lived in Riga, Tallinn and Danzig.

In 1938, Niska started smuggling Jews out of German-controlled areas acquiring and selling forged Finnish passports. It is unclear to what degree he benefitted financially from these actions. It is also unknown how many of the Jews that he provided with passports were actually saved. Niska personally smuggled out large sums of money belonging to German Jews. His illegal activities began to be revealed and ended when Germany declared war on Russia. In the Winter and Continuation Wars he was recruited as a spy for the Swedish intelligence department. After World War II he took up his profession as a seaman again. He wrote two books about his adventures.

Niska died of a brain tumour in 1954. In 1977, the musical Smugglarkungen (English: The Smuggler King) premiered, dramatizing the story of his life. Niska’s family produced many musical talents: among his siblings was an opera baritone, a soprano, an operetta singer and a dancer. His grandson “Danny”, his real name was Ilkka Lipsanen, became a pop singer.