Lauri Hermanni Kokkonen (August 9, 1918 in

Pielavesi Pielavesi is a municipality of Finland. It is part of the Northern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The municipality is unilingually Finnish. Geograp ...

– October 6, 1985 in

Oulu Oulu ( , ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of North Ostrobothnia. It is located on the northwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Oulujoki, River Oulu. The population of Oulu is approximately , while the Oulu sub-regio ...

) was a Finnish author and

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

. He is famous as the writer of the plays ''Viimeiset kiusaukset'' (

The Last Temptations ''The Last Temptations'' () is an opera in two acts by Joonas Kokkonen to a libretto by Lauri Kokkonen. Along with Leevi Madetoja's '' Pohjalaisia'' and Aarre Merikanto's '' Juha'', it is considered one of the most important Finnish operas. ...

, 1960) and ''Ruskie neitsyt'' (The Red Maiden, 1969). He later wrote the libretto, based on his own play, to the opera version of ''

'' by

Joonas Kokkonen Joonas Kokkonen (; 13 November 1921 – 2 October 1996) was a Finnish composer. He was one of the most internationally famous Finnish composers of the 20th century after Sibelius; his opera ''The Last Temptations'' has received over 500 performa ...

Works

*''Hopeinen kynttilänjalka'' 5-act play. Jyväskylä 1960. Gummerus 124 pages, illustrated. *''Laahus. Komediaa tiistaina, keskiviikkona ja perjantaina'' Jyväskylä 1958. Gummerus. 137 pages, illustrated. Translated into Swedish (Släpet). *''Viimeiset kiusaukset'' Play. 14 acts. Jyväskylä 1960. Gummerus. 102 pages. (Libretto to an opera by

, ''

''. Translated into English, Swedish and German.) *''Häähuone'' 3-act comedy. Jyväskylä 1961. Gummerus. 146 pages, illustrated. *''Kultakivet'' 1961. Radio drama. *''Myrskylintu'' 1962. Play. *''Päivän nimi'' 1963. Play. *''Herodekset ratsailla'' 1965. Play. *''Kenttäpostia'' Novel. Helsinki 1966. Weilin&Göös.211 pages. *''

Ruskie neitsyt Ruskie is a hamlet in Stirling, Scotland. It is located from Thornhill. It lies within the FK postcode area The FK postcode area, also known as the Falkirk postcode area,Royal Mail, ''Address Management Guide'', (2004) is a group of 21 post ...

'' Play 1969. Printed in Porvoo 1973. WSOY. *''Muuttolinnut'' 3-act comedy. Helsinki 1977. Finnish Playwrights and Screenwriters Guild . *''Hildan koulu'' 1980. Play. *''Vaeltajat'' Play. Printed in Porvoo 1984. WSOY. 84 pages.

Honours and awards

*Finnish National Prize for Literature 1961 *Knight, First Class, of the Order of the Lion of Finland *Professor (title and style granted by The President of The Republic of Finland) 1978

External links

Lauri Kokkonen – Kirjasampo.fi

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kokkonen, Lauri Finnish dramatists and playwrights 1918 births 1985 deaths Finnish male writers Male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Finnish writers 20th-century Finnish male writers