Reino Tolvanen (31 July 1920, in Viipuri – 21 November 1974, in

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

) was a Finnish actor who played Antti Rokka in

Edvin Laine Edvin Armas Laine (13 July 1905 – 18 November 1989) was a Finnish film director and actor. Laine was born Bovellán. Laine directed a comedy '' Aaltoska orkaniseeraa'' and family film ''Sleeping Beauty'', both in 1949. '' The Unknown Sold ...

's movie '' The Unknown Soldier'', based on a

book A book is a structured presentation of recorded information, primarily verbal and graphical, through a medium. Originally physical, electronic books and audiobooks are now existent. Physical books are objects that contain printed material, ...

Väinö Linna Väinö Linna (; 20 December 1920 – 21 April 1992) was a Finnish author and a former soldier who fought in the Continuation War (1941–44). Linna gained literary fame with his third novel, ''Tuntematon sotilas'' ( ''The Unknown Soldier'', pu ...

. Tolvanen fought in the Finnish army, navy and air force during the

Winter War The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peac ...

and

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 during World War II. It began with a Finnish declaration of war on 25 June 1941 and ended on 19 ...

, including time as a machine gun sergeant, patrol boat commander and bomb aimer in

Bristol Blenheim The Bristol Blenheim is a British light bomber designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company, which was used extensively in the first two years of the Second World War, with examples still being used as trainers until the end of the war. ...

aircraft. Following the war, he worked as an agronomist, before moving to Australia in 1959 with his wife Kaija. The couple had three boys. Tolvanen found that he was unable to find work as an agronomist in Australia, and the family moved to South Africa in 1970. Tolvanen worked as an agronomist until his death in Pretoria in 1974.

Filmography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tolvanen, Reino 1920 births 1974 deaths Actors from Vyborg 20th-century Finnish male actors Finnish emigrants to South Africa Finnish emigrants to Australia Finnish military personnel of World War II Military personnel from Vyborg