Helvi Hämäläinen

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The Finnish sculptor Essi Renvall (1911–1979) creating a bust of the writer Helvi Hämäläinen (1907–1998).

Helvi Hämäläinen (16 June 1907 – 17 January 1998) was a Finnish writer who published dozens of books of prose and poetry during her six decade writing career.[1]

Biography

Helvi Heleena Hämäläinen was born in Hamina, 16 June 1907. She moved to Helsinki with her parents Aaro and Iida Hämäläinen while still a pre-schooler.

Hämäläinen's first published novel, Hyväntekijä (The Benefactor) appeared in 1930, but her breakthrough came five years later with her feminist depiction of the working-class, Katuojan vettä (Water in a Gutter). Hämäläinen's best-known book, Säädyllinen murhenäytelmä (A Decent Tragedy), appeared in 1941. A roman à clef, it caused a great sensation: readers were able to identify several notable cultural personalities of the day, Hämäläinen's former lover Olavi Paavolainen among them.[2][3] Hämäläinen's first novel, a modernist first-person text Kaunis sielu (The Beautiful Soul) was written already in the winter of 1927–28, but it wasn't published until 2001, assumedly because of its portrayal of same-sex desire.[4][5]

In 1987, after two decades out of the spotlight, Hämäläinen returned to the public eye when her book of poems, Sukupolveni unta (Dreams of My Generation), won the Finlandia Prize.[2]

Hämäläinen died at the age of 90 on 17 January 1998. She is buried in the Orthodox cemetery of Helsinki.

Awards

She was awarded the Pro Finlandia Medal in 1959.[6]

References

  1. ^ "Hämäläinen, Helvi". The History of Nordic Women's Literature. Archived from the original on 6 June 2014. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  2. ^ a b "Hämäläinen, Helvi". Biografiskt lexikon för Finland (in Swedish). Svenska litteratursällskapet. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
  3. ^ Liukkonen, Petri. "Hämäläinen, Helvi". Books and Writers. Archived from the original on 2006-12-08. Retrieved 2017-11-16.
  4. ISBN 978-951-51-5743-0
    .
  5. ISBN 978-951-51-1730-4
    .
  6. ^ Pro Finlandia (in Finnish)
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