As a child, he earned his living by working as a street vendor of newspapers.

), he was a leading member of the general strike and it the balcony of Tampere City Hall, he read out the "Red Declaration" (Manifesto of the Finnish People) demanding civil liberties, democracy and labor rights.

[2] After the February Revolution, Kaatra began to write essays and poetry once.

He managed to survive the White Terror by hiding in the attic of his dacha.

Kaatra managed to escape to Sweden where he settled and continued his literary activities until his death in 1928.