Eeva Joenpelto

Eeva Joenpelto (middle) sitting next to president Urho Kekkonen (left) on Independence Day, 1958.

Eeva Elisabeth Joenpelto (17 June 1921, Sammatti, Finland – 28 January 2004, Lohja, Finland), married name after 1945 Hellemann, was a Finnish novelist. Her writing is especially remembered for the Lohja tetralogy which depicted strong women. Described as a "productive novelist of monomaniacal intensity", she occasionally wrote under the pseudonyms of Eeva Helle and Eeva Autere. Joenpelto was President of PEN Finland in 1964-67 and worked as an art professor from 1980 to 1985. She was married (until 1975) to Jarl Hellemann, the CEO of Tammi.

Eeva Joenpelto Prize The Eeva Joenpelto Prize in literature has been awarded by Lohja to honor the city's written heritage. Its recipients have been: 1988 – Jaan Kross 1992 – Olof Lagercrantz 1995 – Sándor Csoóri 1998 – Andreï Makine 2001 – Bernhard Schlink 2004 – Herbjørg Wassmo

Selected works

Awards Thanks for the Book Award for Vetää kaikista ovista (1975) Finlandia Prize for Tuomari Müller, hieno mies (1994)