Leif Salmén

Leif Henry Salmén (19 January 1952 – 19 November 2019) was a Finnish author, journalist and poet.

Career Between 1966 and 1971, Salmén worked various jobs, including as an office clerk and as a port, metal and sawmill worker. Salmén studied at Helsinki University with philosophy as his major between 1971 and 1976. During this period, he also began his media career, working as a freelance journalist from 1969 to 1976, for the Finnish News Agency (STT) from 1973 to 1975, and as a production manager at Lilla Teatern in 1975. He was a member of the Communist Party of Finland from the 1970s until mid-1980s. Salmén was a Taistoist.

Salmén was a TV journalist working for Yleisradio from 1976 to 1989. He was among the best-known media personalities in Finland in the 1980s because of his rapid-fire interviews and uncompromised grilling of politicians and the elite.

After that Salmén worked as a columnist, essayist and a poet. Several of his books were translated into Finnish. Among other honours, Salmén received the Eino Leino Prize in 2013.

Works Vår korta stund tillsammans. Söderström, 1976 Att varje dag. Söderström, 1978 Begäret. Söderström, 1980 Lähdön jäljet. 1980 (as Swedish text contributor; original text by Paavo Rintala) Dans och tystnad. Söderström, 1982 Finländsk bokföring: Dagbok från tredje republiken. Söderström, 1983 Popocatepetl. 1983 Ikon. Söderström, 1986 Vintermonolog: Dagbok från tredje republiken. Söderström, 1987 Duvorna på Plaza Real. Söderström, 1990 Livet i förorten. Söderström, 1992 Fjärde republiken: Oregelbundna anteckningar. Söderström, 1994 Men Marx menade motsatsen. Söderström, 1996 Promenader i Leninparken. Söderström, 2000 Palatset vid Bosporen: Essäer. Söderström, 2005 Ner från Akropolis. Söderström, 2008 Den underjordiska moskén. Schildts & Söderströms, 2013 Det orientaliska rummet. Förlaget, 2017