Background
Helvi Heleena Hämäläinen was born in Hamina, but moved to Helsinki with her parents Aaro and Iida Hämäläinen while still a pre-schooler.
Helvi Heleena Hämäläinen was born in Hamina, but moved to Helsinki with her parents Aaro and Iida Hämäläinen while still a pre-schooler.
Hämäläinen"s first novel, Hyväntekijä (Finnish: The Benefactor) appeared in 1930, but her breakthrough came five years later with her portrait of the working-class Katuojan vettä (Finnish: Water in a Gutter). Hämäläinen"s best-known book, Säädyllinen murhenäytelmä (Finnish: Respectable Tragedy), appeared in 1941. A roman à clef, it caused a great sensation: readers were able to identify several notable cultural personalities of the day, Hämäläinen"s former lover Olavi Paavolainen among them.
She was awarded the in 1959.
Helvi Hämäläinen died at the age of 90 on 17 January 1998. She is buried in the Orthodox cemetery of Helsinki.
