Hella Wuolijoki (née Ella Marie Murrik; 22 July 1886Hella Wuolijoki in the Free Online Encyclopedia
/ref> – 2 February 1954), also known by the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

Juhani Tervapää, was an

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, an ...

n-born Finnish writer known for her ''Niskavuori'' series.Wuolijoki, Hella. Eesti Entsüklopeedia 10. Estonian Encyclopaedia Publishers, Tallinn, 1998

Early life

Wuolijoki was born in the

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

of Ala in

Helme Parish ) , leader_name = Tarmo Tamm , area_total_km2 = 312.73 , population_total = 2525 , population_as_of = 01.01.2009 , population_density_km2 = auto , website www.helme.ee Helme Parish ( et, ...

(now in

Tõrva Parish Tõrva Parish ( et, Tõrva vald) is a rural municipality in Valga County. It includes the town of Tõrva. Settlements ;Town Tõrva ;Boroughs Helme, Hummuli ;Villages Aitsra, Ala, Alamõisa, Holdre, Jeti, Jõgeveste, Kalme, Karjatnur ...

Valga County Valga County ( et, Valga maakond or ''Valgamaa'') is a first-level administrative unit and one of 15 counties of Estonia. It comprises the former area of Valga District. The present-day county was created on 1 January 1990. The capital and lar ...

, Governorate of Livonia. She began her studies in

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of ...

, before moving to

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

in 1904. In 1908, she married Sulo Vuolijoki, a personal friend of

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...

. They divorced in 1923. Later, Wuolijoki began spelling her name with a W.

Career

Author

Wuolijoki wrote several books under the male

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individu ...

Juhani Tervapää that were characterised by strong female characters. The 1947 film ''The Farmer's Daughter'' was adapted from her 1937 play ''Juurakon Hulda'', which she also wrote as Juhani Tervapää. She collaborated with

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...

on the initial version of his ''

Mr Puntila and his Man Matti ''Mr Puntila and his Man Matti'' (german: Herr Puntila und sein Knecht Matti) is an epic comedy by the German modernist playwright Bertolt Brecht. It was written in 1940 and first performed in 1948. The story describes the aristocratic land-owne ...

''.

Spy

In the 1920s and 1930s, Wuolijoki hosted a literary and political

salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon ( ...

that discussed culture and promoted left-wing ideas. She had secret connections with the Soviet intelligence and security structures. The Finnish police suspected her of being an illegal

resident spy A resident spy in the world of espionage is an agent operating within a foreign country for extended periods of time. A base of operations within a foreign country with which a resident spy may liaise is known as a "station" in English and a (, 're ...

, but there was no solid proof until 1943, when she was arrested for hiding

Kerttu Nuorteva Kerttu Nuorteva (November 10, 1912 in Astoria, Oregon, United States – August 29, 1963 in Karaganda, Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Union) was a Soviet intelligence agent. She was the daughter of Santeri Nuorteva, the president of ...

, a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

paratrooper spy on a mission to acquire information about the political sentiment and the German troops in Finland, and sentenced to life imprisonment. She was released in 1944, after the armistice that ended the

Continuation War The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet-Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1944, as part of World War II.; sv, fortsättningskriget; german: Fortsetzungskrieg. A ...

Post-war and death

Wuolijoki was a member of the

Finnish Parliament The Parliament of Finland ( ; ) is the unicameral and supreme legislature of Finland, founded on 9 May 1906. In accordance with the Constitution of Finland, sovereignty belongs to the people, and that power is vested in the Parliament. The ...

and the head of the

SKDL Finnish People's Democratic League ( fi, Suomen Kansan Demokraattinen Liitto, SKDL; sv, Demokratiska Förbundet för Finlands Folk, DFFF) was a Finnish political organisation with the aim of uniting those left of the Finnish Social Democratic P ...

parliamentary group from 1946 to 1947. Wuolijoki also served as the director of the national broadcasting company, YLE, from 1945 to 1949. Wuolijoki died in

in 1954, aged 67.

Personal life

Her younger sister,

Salme Dutt Salme Pekkala-Dutt (: Salme Anette Murrik) (29 August 1888 – 30 August 1964) was an Estonian-British communist politician, wife of Rajani Palme Dutt. The Finnish-Estonian author Hella Wuolijoki was her elder sister. Murrik was also grandaunt of ...

, was an influential member of the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPGB ...

. Wuolijoki was the grandmother of

Erkki Tuomioja Erkki Sakari Tuomioja (born 1 July 1946) is a Finnish politician and a member of the Finnish Parliament. From 2000 to 2007 and 2011 to 2015, he served as the minister for foreign affairs. He was president of the Nordic Council in 2008. Tuomio ...

(b.1946), Finland's minister for foreign affairs between 2011 and 2015.

Works

* '' Juurakon Hulda'' (1937) * '' Entäs nyt, Niskavuori?'' (1953)

References

External links

Hella Wuolijoki in 375 humanists 9.1.2015, Faculty of Arts, University of Helsinki
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wuolijoki, Hella 1886 births 1954 deaths People from Tõrva Parish People from the Governorate of Livonia Estonian emigrants to Finland Finnish people of Estonian descent Finnish People's Democratic League politicians Members of the Parliament of Finland (1945–48) Finnish people of World War II Estonian women novelists Finnish women novelists Pseudonymous women writers Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Finland Finnish prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment 20th-century Finnish novelists 20th-century Finnish women writers 20th-century Finnish women politicians Women members of the Parliament of Finland 20th-century Estonian novelists Women in World War II 20th-century pseudonymous writers Finnish salon-holders