Joel Pettersson

Joel Pettersson (8 June 1892 – 5 January 1937) was a painter and writer on the Åland Islands, Finland. He remained an obscure figure during his lifetime; most of his writings were unpublished for decades after his death.

Biography Petterssons parents were elderly peasants, Joel's father being well over 50 at the time of Joel's birth. Joel had a younger brother Karl, who died at sea in 1916. Pettersson lived almost his entire life in Norrby Lemland, Åland, where he had to take over the family farm although he lacked both interest and qualifications for small-farming.

Pettersson began writing and painting in his early school years, though much of his works from this period were not preserved.

Around the year 1913 he had the opportunity to study at the drawing school Åbo Ritskola in Turku