Veikko Antero Koskenniemi (8 July 1885 – 4 August 1962) was a Finnish poet born in

Oulu Oulu ( , ; sv, Uleåborg ) is a city, municipality and a seaside resort of about 210,000 inhabitants in the region of North Ostrobothnia, Finland. It is the most populous city in northern Finland and the fifth most populous in the country after ...

. From 1921 to 1948, Koskenniemi served as Professor of Literary History at the

University of Turku sv, Åbo universitet , latin_name = Universitas Aboensis , image_name = University of Turku.svg , motto = ''Vapaan kansan lahja vapaalle tieteelle'' , established = 1920 , type ...

. He was the university's rector from 1924 to 1932. In 1948 he became a member of the Finnish Academy. He died in

Turku Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...

. V. A. Koskenniemi is one of Finland's most popular writers. Koskenniemi was well known for his poems, travel books, and essays. He was influenced by

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as tr ...

, Runeberg, French Parnassans and

Symbolists Symbolism was a late 19th-century art movement of French and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts seeking to represent absolute truths symbolically through language and metaphorical images, mainly as a reaction against naturalism and real ...

. He is perhaps best known for writing the lyrics for the ''Finlandia'' hymn.

Asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...

1697 Koskenniemi Events January–March * January 8 – Thomas Aikenhead is hanged outside Edinburgh, becoming the last person in Great Britain to be executed for blasphemy. * January 11 – French writer Charles Perrault releases the book '' Histoire ...

, discovered in 1940–1941, is named after him.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Koskenniemi, Veikko Antero 1885 births 1962 deaths People from Oulu People from Oulu Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) Finnish male poets Writers from Northern Ostrobothnia Finnish literary critics Finnish translators University of Helsinki alumni 20th-century Finnish poets 20th-century translators 20th-century male writers Rectors of the University of Turku