Olavi Paavolainen (17 September 1903 – 19 July 1964) was a Finnish writer, essayist and poet. He was one of the prominent figures of the literary group

Tulenkantajat Tulenkantajat (″The Flame Bearers″) was a literary group in Finland during the 1920s. Their main task was to find a way to take Finland from so-called backwoods culture to the new, modern European level of literature. They did not consider th ...

(″The Flame Bearers″), and one of the most influential Finnish writers of the inter-war period. Paavolainen started his poetry career in the literary magazine '' Nuori Voima''. Paavolainen was interested in Fascism and National Socialism, but after the World War II he turned to the political left. Paavolainen's notable works include the 1936 travel report '' Kolmannen valtakunnan vieraana'' (″A Guest of the Third Reich″) and the 1946 ''Synkkä yksinpuhelu'' (″A Gloomy Soliloquy″), based on his war diaries. On the basis of the latter book, an adaptation of the ''

Sign of the Beast ''Sign of the Beast'' () is a 1981 Finnish drama film co-written and directed by Jaakko Pakkasvirta. It is based on the 1946 book ''A Gloomy Soliloquy'' () by Olavi Paavolainen, based on his war diaries written during the Winter War and the Con ...

'' was made in 1981, directed by

Jaakko Pakkasvirta Jaakko Juhani Pakkasvirta (28 November 1934 – 23 March 2018) was a Finnish film director and screenwriter.Helvi Hämäläinen 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. Biography Helvi Heleena Hämäläinen was born in Hamina, 16 June 1907. She moved ...

. In 1945–1953, Paavolainen was married to the actress Sirkka-Liisa Virtamo. After the divorce he was in a relationship with the communist leader

Hertta Kuusinen Hertta Elina Kuusinen (14 February 1904 – 18 March 1974) was a Finland, Finnish communism, Communist politician. She was a member of the central committee (1944–1971) and the political bureau of the Communist Party of Finland; member of Finla ...

Awards

Eino Leino Prize The Eino Leino Prize is an annual prize awarded to top writers in Finland since 1956, with particular emphasis on poets. It is named after Eino Leino, a pioneer of Finnish poetry. Recipients *1956 Viljo Kajava *1957 Helvi Juvonen *1958 Rabb ...

1960

Works

*''Nuoret runoilijat'', 1924 (anthology) *''Valtatiet'', 1928 (with

Mika Waltari Mika Toimi Waltari (; 19 September 1908 – 26 August 1979) was a Finnish writer, best known for his best-selling novel ''The Egyptian'' (). He was extremely productive. Besides his novels he also wrote poetry, short stories, crime novels, plays, ...

) *''Nykyaikaa etsimässä'', 1929 *''Keulakuvat'', 1932 *''Suursiivous eli kirjallisessa lastenkamarissa'', 1932 *''Kolmannen valtakunnan vieraana'', 1936 *''Lähtö ja loitsu'', 1937 *''Risti ja hakaristi'', 1938 *''Synkkä yksinpuhelu'', 1946

References

1903 births 1964 deaths People from Viipuri Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) 20th-century Finnish poets Finnish-language poets Finnish male poets Finnish-language writers 20th-century Finnish male writers Finnish gay writers Finnish LGBTQ poets Gay poets Finnish military personnel of World War II Recipients of the Eino Leino Prize 20th-century Finnish essayists 20th-century Finnish LGBTQ people {{Finland-writer-stub