Hans Håkon Christian Sivén (Hans Sivén in his school years, H.H.Sivén in adulthood, and Bobi Sivén to his close ones) was born in 1899 in Helsinki to a patriotic bourgeois family. His father, Valter Osvald Sivén, was a Doctor of Medicine and Surgery, an activist, and one of the founders of the Jäger movement. His older brother, Paavo Sivén (later Susitaival), was an active participant in the Jäger movement.

Bobi was too young to join the Jägers in Germany, but during the Finnish Civil War, he became part of the 3rd company of the 1st battalion of the Helsinki White Guard. During street fighting, Bobi shot at least one Red soldier who was ambushing White Guards from the roof of a pharmacy. For his distinction in the capture of Helsinki, Sivén was awarded the Cross of Liberty, 4th class.

After the Civil War, Sivén focused on the liberation of East Karelia and participated in the White Sea Karelian expedition from August to October 1918 under the command of Jäger Captain Toivo Kuisma.

Later, Bobi enrolled in the Faculty of History and Linguistics at the University of Helsinki, specializing in history, philosophy, and political economy, while also studying Latin.

In 1919, he could not take part in the Olonets expedition as he was conscripted for military service in the machine-gun company of the Helsinki Guard White Regiment. However, Bobi expressed a desire to serve in Repola, which had de facto joined Finland.

In late autumn 1919, the government commission for East Karelia, which was governing Repola, selected him from 36 candidates for the vacant position of Lensmann (district police chief). H.H.Sivén was officially appointed as the Repola Lensmann on December 12, 1919, though he was still serving in the military. He was only 20 years old at the time.

Initially, Bobi intended to continue his studies at the university in the fall semester of 1920 and submitted his resignation from the Lensmann position. His resignation was approved for September 15, 1920, but when he learned that the Finnish government planned to cede Repola and Porosozero to Soviet Russia in exchange for Pechenga, Sivén decided to stay. In his view, the abandonment of Karelia would mean the destruction of the Finnish nation. Together with Jäger Captain Kalle Määttä, commander of the volunteer forces of Karelian refugees, Bobi began developing the "Bear's Den" plan, aiming to create an independent national state in East Karelia that would serve as a neutral buffer between Finland and Soviet Russia.

At the end of September and early October 1920, elections were held in Repola, resulting in the formation of a 12-member Repola Committee, which declared itself the sole authority in Repola. The committee was chaired by Pekka Kyöttinen, with Paavo Höttönen as Chief Clerk, and Bobi Sivén as the behind-the-scenes power broker. Repola declared its independence from both Finland and Russia. Repola Committee member F.V.Netsäinen was sent to Helsinki as an envoy.

On October 14, 1920, Finland and Soviet Russia signed the Treaty of Tartu. Sivén, together with Paavo Höttönen (the Chief Clerk and the Head of local Civil Guard), continued developing the "Bear's Den" plan.

On November 12, 1920, Sivén was officially removed from the position of Repola Lensmann, but he continued to perform his duties. Officially, H.H.Sivén was now the plenipotentiary representative of the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Repola and Porosozero.

On December 31, 1920, when the Finnish flag was lowered from the Repola municipal building, Sivén told his friend, "Brother, I cannot bear this shame. The cause of Karelia is worth my life. I will be the last to leave Repola, and probably not alive."

On January 8, 1921, Paavo Höttönen accidentally shot himself with his own pistol during Orthodox Christmas celebrations in the local school building. He died the next day while being transported to the hospital. After Höttönen's death, both the leadership of Repola and the "Bear's Den" plan fell apart.

At six in the morning on January 12, 1921, a telegram arrived from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, starting with the words: "Due to extraordinary circumstances, you must do everything in your power to prevent the people of Repola and Porosozero from taking up arms…"

Sivén wrote an open letter to Finnish Foreign Minister Rudolf Holsti and shot himself in the heart at 22:15 on January 12, 1921.

Finnish troops left Repola on February 15, 1921.

The "Bear's Den" plan was never realized, but Jalmari Takkinen from the working group used it as a basis during the East Karelian Uprising.

Bobi Sivén's suicide had a significant impact on the founding of the Academic Karelia Society (AKS) in 1922. Sivén soon became one of AKS's key symbols. A bullet that pierced his heart was sewn into the blue-and-white ribbon of the banner of AKS.

In January 1921, sculptor Alpo Sailo made a plaster death mask from Bobi Sivén’s face. In 1937, he created a bas-relief for the memorial cabinet door containing the mask, which was installed in the AKS office in Helsinki's Old Student House. In 1998, Bobi's nephew donated the death mask and the memorial cabinet to the Joensuu Art Museum.

In 1923, Finnish artist Albert Gebhard presented a portrait of Bobi Sivén.

On May 12, 1931, a tombstone for V.O.Sivén and H.H.Sivén was unveiled at the Hietaniemi Cemetery in Helsinki. The memorial, made of Hyvinkää granite, was designed by Aino von Boehm. It bore the motto: "For Greater Finland".

"The path of a patriot in this country has always been difficult, but rarely as hard as that of Bobi Sivén," said Elias Simojoki at the monument's opening ceremony.

In 1934, Alpo Sailo created new bronze outer doors for the Jusélius Mausoleum in Pori (based on a miniature model created in 1917 by Akseli Gallen-Kallela). On the right door, depicting Death, are Lemminkäinen and his mother on the River of Tuonela. The model for Lemminkäinen was Bobi Sivén’s death mask. The model for the mother was the sculptor’s wife, Nina Sailo.

In late summer 1942, under Jalmari Takkinen's leadership, a temporary monument was erected on the ruins of the municipal building in Repola, marking the site of Bobi Sivén’s death.

In 1943, many streets were renamed in Äänislinna (the occupied Petrozavodsk). One of the new street names was Sivén Street (formerly and currently Malaya Slobodskaya).

Translated by Margarita Matthew, 2024