Juvonen, Helvi (1919–1959)

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Juvonen, Helvi (1919–1959)

Finnish poet. Born Nov 5, 1919, in Iisalmi, Finland; died Oct 1, 1959, in Helsinki; dau. of Juho Petterinpoika Juvonen (owned a clothes shop) and Impi Maria Liimatainen; attended University of Helsinki.

Considered the most important writer of Finnish modernism of 1950s, studied German mystics and wrote lyric poems of spiritual intensity; suffering from depression, was hospitalized a number of times; works include Kääpiöpuu (1949), Pohjajäätä (1952), and Päivästä päivään (1954); also trans. Robinson Jeffers and Emily Dickinson, among others, into Finnish.